Dragon Ball VE: The Keeper Saga
by Zab Jade
Summary: They thought after Buu nothing could come along that they couldn't defeat. They were wrong. Two new enemies appear each with their own agenda. One is determined to ensure the survival of the Saiyan race against all odds. And the other seeks the Z Team's
1. Chapter 1

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: The Keeper Saga**

Chapter One 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Author's Note:** This story completely and utterly ignores the abomination that is GT, so please do not write any "helpful" reviews telling me that bits of the story directly contradict GT.

**Warning:** There will be torture and non-con situations in a later chapter, though none of it goes past what is acceptable on this site.

…

"Do not presume to tell me what to do," Vegeta said, his voice soft and deadly quiet. He knew from experience that raising his voice would do no good, so didn't see any reason to yell.

"You are impossible!" the woman across from him screamed, not sharing her husband's abilities at volume control.

"Will you stop that infernal shrieking?" he growled, the pitch of her voice grating on his sensitive hearing. He had finally admitted to himself that he loved Bulma, but he really wished she wouldn't make so much noise. "I swear, sometimes your voice is the most annoying thing on this miserable excuse for a planet."

Bulma moved toward him faster than he would have thought possible for an untrained human and slapped him with all of her strength. It wasn't anywhere near enough to hurt him, but it still made her feel better.

She gave a startled squeak of surprise as he suddenly growled and lunged at her, pinning her to the floor with very little of his strength. In all of the time they'd known each other, he'd never hurt her physically.

"You're staying here for the party tomorrow, and that's final," she calmly insisted, staring up at his growling visage.

He snorted, his expression relaxing to one of amusement. "I most certainly am not. Why should I care that that bastard, Kakarot, is going to be one year older? He is still an imbecile with the mind of a child."

He blinked and cocked his head slightly, looking thoughtful as his own words sparked an idea. Bulma used his momentary distraction to get one leg over his hip and twist herself so that she was now pinning him.

He looked up at her in amusement, one eyebrow raised as if to ask what she planned to do now that she had him "helplessly" pinned.

"You'll be here for the party tomorrow, Vegeta," she said huskily. "You just need a little convincing."

…

In the living room, Trunks and Goten were watching TV when Vegeta came down dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of tight jeans. Five-year-old Bra was tucked under his arm like a happily wiggling sack of potatoes.

"Change the channel, brats, the show's coming on," he said, sounding gruff, but oddly mellow at the same time.

Goten snickered slightly as he handed the remote to his best friend's father. It had taken him a while to figure out why Vegeta would randomly be so relaxed, but once he had, it never failed to amuse him.

Vegeta snorted and glared at him in mild annoyance as he took the remote, changing the channel to his favorite show, _Fifi, the Giant Weremonkey_. He dropped down on the couch, settling Bra on his lap.

The show was about an insane scientist named Fifi who had been bitten by a werewolf right before accidentally injecting herself with the DNA from a monkey which had been subjected to growth hormones. On the full moon, she would turn into a giant wolven weremonkey, much like the Saiyan wereform, and would try to take over the world. She always ended up saving it from others instead.

Vegeta loved it and insisted on watching it every night. Trunks had his own suspicions about why his father liked it so much. He himself found the show a bit disturbing, but was amused by the fact that it was based on a "legend" that matched some of Goku's early adventures.

The two young men went off to do something more interesting, leaving Vegeta to watch his show with his daughter and to plot for tomorrow.

…

Bulma was not happy. Vegeta had left before dawn, muttering something about a present for Goku. It was nearly time for the party, and he wasn't back yet.

_If he doesn't get back in time, he is so dead._

…

Vegeta grabbed the last dragon ball and put it in a pile with the other six, preparing to summon the dragon. He already had both of his wishes planned out.

_I wonder what Kakarot and the women will think of their presents?_ A weird grin appeared on his face as he contemplated it.

…

"Hi, Bulma!" Goku said cheerfully as Bulma welcomed them into the house. He was about to step inside when his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he passed out.

"Goku!" both Bulma and Chi-Chi cried out, bending down over him. Bulma reached a hand towards him, then froze at what she saw. The telltale signs of wear and age that had decorated her hands were gone.

She looked over at Chi-Chi, meeting the other woman's eyes. Goku's wife looked no older than twenty-five.

"Bulma, you-" Chi-Chi began, her voice soft with awe. She was interrupted by a soft moan from Goku.

"We need to get him to one of the spare bedrooms," Bulma said. She called Trunks and Goten over to carry the unconscious Saiyan up the stairs.

…

"Your wishes have been granted," the dragon announced. Vegeta nodded, wondering what was happening due to those wishes.

…

"How much longer until planet-fall, Lieutenant Effarin?" the alien female asked.

"Only a few hours, Captain."

"Good," Captain Rekkaia said, sitting down in her command chair. Soon, the Saiyan would be theirs.

…

Vegeta flew towards home, his expression oddly smug and contemplative at the same time.

_A gift and a bit of revenge, all rolled into one. Ignorance truly is bliss, Kakarot._

…

Goku came to with a moan just as Chi-Chi placed a cold compress on his head. He was immediately assaulted by knowledge and incredible guilt.

How could I have hurt so many people like that and still considered myself to be a good person? How could I do all of that to Chi-Chi?

"Goku, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Goku sat up, clutching his head. "I'm fine, Chi-Chi, my head just really hurts," he assured her. His voice was different. A bit deeper and more adult sounding.

"Goku, you sound different."

"Chi-Chi, I'm so sorry," he said softly, tears starting to slide down his cheeks.

"Goku?" Chi-Chi was becoming alarmed.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated. "I left you all those times, and it didn't even occur to me how you'd feel about it. I mean, I knew you'd be sad, but I didn't realize you'd feel abandoned. I always abandon everyone. You, Uub, the boys. Everyone. Oh, Kami, Vegeta's been right about me all along. I _am_ an idiot. Or at least, I was."

"Stop it. You aren't an idiot."

"Not anymore. I don't believe this. Vegeta is a better father than I am, and a severely abusive megalomaniac raised him. Grandpa Gohan may have been a weird old man, but at least he raised me with love. And I still turned out to be a bad, neglectful parent."

Chi-Chi slapped him. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Goku, but you're a good husband and father."

"Intelligence is what has gotten into me," he explained with a low, bitter laugh. "They're right, you know. About ignorance being bliss. It really is."

Chi-Chi stared at him in shock as he fell back on the bed, burying his head in the pillows and crying over his lost innocence.

…

Goten paced nervously in the living room of Capsule Corp. He was extremely worried about his father.

"Calm down, Goten," Trunks said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Everything will be alright."

Goten was about to say something when the doorbell rang. Gohan had arrived and was waiting on the front porch with Pan. Videl was home with their infant son, who was running a fever.

"Damn it," Bulma snarled, appearing in the living room just as Goten let his brother and niece in. "My dragon ball radar is gone!"

"B-Bulma?" Gohan stuttered, staring at her. "You look young…"

Bulma sighed. "I know. My idiot husband gathered the dragon balls and made some wish to make me and Chi-Chi younger. He used the other wish to do something to your father, but we don't know what."

We'll be able to find out soon. I can sense his ki coming towards us," Trunks announced grimly. He trusted and loved his father, but there was no telling what he might have done to his long-time rival.

"I know what the wish was!" a young voice chimed from the stairs. Bra came bouncing down to the living room, a huge grin plastered on her face. "Daddy wished for Kakiku to be smart."

"How do you know that, sweetie?" Bulma asked, not bothering to correct her. It had taken her a year-and-a-half just to get the little girl to stop calling Goku "Kakarot".

"Daddy told me while we were watching Fifi yesterday."

"Fifi?" Bulma repeated, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she imagined her husband talking to their daughter while ogling some blonde bimbo.

"It's a show, Mom," Trunks quickly explained. "Fifi the Giant Weremonkey. She's a scientist who was bitten by a werewolf and accidentally injected herself with a DNA sample from a monkey they'd been giving growth hormones to. She ends up transforming into a giant monkey/wolf thing that looks like an Oozaru, and she's almost always in that form in the show."

"Oh, so he watches it because it reminds him of home," she said, calming down and looking a little sympathetic. He always tried to hide it, but she knew that her husband often suffered from homesickness.

Trunks decided not to mention what Vegeta's first reaction to the transformed Fifi had been. He was pretty sure his mother would freak if she ever found out that his father found giant monkeys attractive. Trunks himself had found her wereform oddly enticing, which had disturbed him greatly.

…

Vegeta landed in the front yard of Capsule Corp., his wife, Chi-Chi, and assorted part-Saiyans waiting for him.

"Daddy!" Bra squealed, running up to him and launching herself into his arms.

"You have some explaining to do," Bulma said icily.

"What the hell is that?" Trunks asked suddenly, interrupting before Vegeta could even begin to explain himself.

They all looked up at the dot in the sky that was rapidly growing larger.

…

In the command center of the approaching shuttle, Captain Rekkaia sat in her chair, a thoughtful expression on her face. She knew she should be with the main ship, but hadn't been able to resist the urge to go along with the ground team.

"Soon," she whispered to herself. "Soon we will have the perfect specimen for our studies."

…

Vegeta put Bra down and shifted into a fighting stance, the other fighters following his lead.

"Bulma, take Bra and Gohan's brat inside and stay there with them," he ordered. Normally the blue-haired inventor would have argued, but now was not the time, and she knew it. She took Bra's hand in of hers and Pan's in the other before turning towards the house without a word.

Before she could enter, Goku came out, Chi-Chi right behind him. Bulma was shocked to see that he had obviously been crying.

"Goku, are you alright?" she asked uncertainly.

"Dad, you're awake," Gohan said, turning to look at his father. He was just as shocked as Bulma at Goku's appearance. His eyes were haunted, as if he had been forced to look within his own soul and hadn't liked what he had seen.

Vegeta had turned as well, and Goku ignored his son to lock eyes with the Saiyan prince. "I don't know whether to thank you or to hate you for what you've done to me, Vegeta," he said quietly.

The smaller man nodded slowly. "You can decide that later, Kakarot," he said gruffly. "We have more important matters to deal with right now."

"Yes, we do," Goku agreed as the ship prepared to land.

Hitting the ground with a gentle thump, the ship settled, and six blue-skinned creatures with white hair and long, horse-like tails emerged. Their feet were hooves, and their faces seemed to be a mixture of equine, bovine, and human.

Bulma felt herself relax and didn't bother to go into the house as she'd been told. How could such sweet and gentle-looking creatures possibly be a threat? Everyone but Vegeta and Goku apparently felt the same way, as they all relaxed and powered down.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, brat?" Vegeta barked as Trunks took a step forward.

One of the creatures, a female, frowned slightly and pulled a small, glowing ball from a pouch hanging from her belt. She chirped and trilled at it a few times, then it slowly floated from her hand to hover about a foot in front of her.

"Calm down, Dad," Trunks said while this was happening. "They aren't a threat."

Vegeta growled. "You don't know that for certain."

Trunks ignored him and moved a little closer to the aliens. "Hello. My name is Trunks."

The female alien chirped and the ball began to glow. "I am Captain Rekkaia," a feminine voice said from the ball.

"Wow, a translation device of some sort," Bulma said, moving closer to get a better look at it. Vegeta glanced back at her with a frown, wondering why she was outdoors.

"Yes," the alien said, sounding pleased. "We have come for the best of the Saiyans."

Goku tensed at that. He was good at judging people, and he didn't trust these aliens at all.

"What do you want with my Goku?" Chi-Chi demanded angrily.

"Goku?" Captain Rekkaia repeated, sounding confused.

"His Saiyan name is Kakarot," Bulma explained, suddenly thinking these creatures might be a threat after all. What did they want with Goku? Were they yet another group bent on killing him for some reason?

Rekkaia still looked puzzled. "We have come for the _best_ of the Saiyans. We are the Keepers. We prevent species from being gone by taking members of them and breeding them so that there are more. We study them to bring understanding to ourselves and others."

"You're running a big space zoo," Gohan said incredulously. "And you want my father as a part of it!"

The alien seemed even more confused with each thing they said. "This one is your male parent, correct?" she asked, indication Goku. Gohan nodded. "Why would we want him? We have made a female using samples from the destroyed home world, but now we require a male of good material as breeding stock."

"Good material?" Bulma repeated. "You mean good genes?"

Rekkaia nodded happily, her eyes briefly squeezing shut as she chirped. "Yes," the ball translated.

Everyone slowly shifted their gazes to look at Vegeta, who was growling softly. If he had still possessed the length of his tail, it would have been lashing behind him.

"I don't think so!" Bulma yelled suddenly, marching forward. She shoved past Vegeta, knocking the startled Saiyan off balance and sending him sprawling in an undignified heap. "My husband is _not_ breeding stock, is that understood?"

Rekkaia just blinked her large eyes, looking sad. She chirped something at the ball, but instead of translating, it shot a beam at Bulma, sending her flying backwards. Her unconscious form slammed into Vegeta who had just gotten back to his feet. He caught her with a grunt, but managed to stay upright.

Vegeta gently laid his mate down on the grass, then charged towards the aliens. Rekkaia trilled at the ball and it swung out directly in front of Vegeta's face. He skidded to a halt, unsure of what to do about the thing.

Rekkaia gave it more commands and it shot a beam of bright light the size of Vegeta's head right at his face. He screamed once, instinctively bringing his hands to cover his eyes, before falling to the ground unconscious.

"Vegeta!" Goku yelled in sick horror, blinking spots out of his eyes. The light hadn't even been aimed at him, and his eyes were aching from it.

_Oh, dear Kami, I don't even want to think about the damage that must have done to him,_ Goku thought, preparing to go Super Saiyan. Before he could do so, Rekkaia let out a series of clicks and chirps. The ball seemed to glow even brighter for a split second before pain exploded through his head and darkness descended.

…

Bulma came to just as Rekkaia commanded the ball to shower a beam of energy on the unconscious Saiyans and half-breeds. There were sounds of ripping cloth as they regained their tails.

Bulma slowly sat up and looked around. Everyone except for her and Chi-Chi was unconscious, and the other woman was tied up. Vegeta and Bra had also been tied up, and were in the process of being carried into the ship.

Rekkaia stood with her arms crossed over her chest, watching proudly as two of her people began to gather hair, tail, and skin samples from Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Pan. When one of the aliens got to Gohan, it began to chitter and chirp excitedly.

Rekkaia walked over and had the ball scan him, her own voice becoming excited at the results. She chirped out several orders, and Gohan was tied up as well and carried to the ship.

"Why are you taking them?" Bulma asked angrily.

"The best Saiyan is being taken to breed," the lead alien explained. "The female child is to be studied, as is the other male. Part of his genetic makeup is neither Saiyan nor of your species."

"What you're doing is wrong! They're thinking and feeling beings, you can't just force them to breed while you poke and prod them."

Rekkaia just looked at her, puzzled. "We are the Keepers. We keep species from being gone. Our work is good."

With that, she signaled to the others and they headed back to the ship. Bulma watched as it left, barely noticing the tears that slowly slid down her cheeks.

…

On a high mountain cliff several miles away from Capsule Corporation, two figures watched silently as the alien ship rose through the atmosphere. One of them was tall, clothed in practical fighting garb. The other was short, hidden within the folds of a gray, hooded cloak. The taller of the two stood comfortably within what most would consider his companion's personal space, but neither seemed to mind.

"The Shades should be making their move soon," he commented, his furry brown tail slowly swaying behind him. At first glance, he seemed to be one of the very Saiyans who had just been kidnapped, but he was at least a decade older and had the look of a hardened warrior.

"Yes," the cloaked man replied softly. "Gather the others and do what you can against the Shades."

"And where shall you be?" the taller man asked. He was one of the few who would dare to so casually question the cloaked one.

"That is not important now. Just go."

"As you command, Ackay Ayanni," he said with a bow. Then he brought his fingers to his forehead and vanished.

The cloaked figure held out his hand, a staff of ebony wood appearing within his grasp, the top of which was fashioned into a pair of clawed hands clutching a shining amethyst.

The cloaked one nodded once to himself in satisfaction, then began to slowly sink into his own shadow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Author's Note: **The first chapter of this was written completely by me. This chapter and all others after it were done with a co-writer.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

Videl held her quietly fussing son, Iktomi, and glared at the assembled group of people at Capsule Corp. "So, you basically let some strange aliens waltz in here and take off with my husband and haven't done a thing to get him back?"

Bulma, still half in shock and grieving over the loss of her husband and youngest child, felt a sudden hot fury. She was going to scream at the younger woman hysterically, but Goku's calm voice cut in.

"What do you expect we could have done, Videl?" he asked quietly. "The aliens managed to knock us unconscious somehow. And we've all lost family and friends today. Gohan is my son, and Vegeta…."

"And Vegeta is my husband!" Bulma snapped. "What do you want from us? To wave a wand and wish them back?" She buried her face against her knees. "We could have used the dragon balls for that, but my idiot of a husband had to use them today to make a wish for Goku's stupid birthday present!"

"What about instant transmission?" Trunks asked quietly. He was sitting on the floor with Goten beside him, the other half Saiyan looking like he wanted to sink into the floor to escape his sister-in-law's wrath.

"I knew we should have waited before telling her," Goten muttered. He had nothing against his brother's wife, but knew she could be a real bitch when she was upset.

Trunks ignored his best friend's comment, his attention focused completely on Goku. "Find their ki and go to them. If you're afraid of teleporting inside of a solid object or something, teach me how to do it, and I'll get them back. I will do anything to get my dad and little sister home again."

"I can't lock onto their ki," Goku muttered irritably. Several of the others looked up at him in surprise. He had always been cheerful and easygoing, even in times of crises, and his sudden intensity when not in a direct battle rattled them a bit. They didn't know what to make of it. "If I could, I would use instant transmission, but I can't!"

"They aren't… they aren't…" Bulma couldn't finish the sentence as she stared at him in horror.

"Dead?" Goku said flatly, his gaze moving over to her sharply. "No. They're not dead. There's just something blocking me from reaching them, and I don't understand it."

"Gohan can get them all out when they regain consciousness!" Goten exclaimed suddenly. "Remember, Dad? You taught him your teleportation technique."

Goku shook his head sadly. "The most likely reason for me not being able to sense their ki is that the aliens have found a way to suppress it. They've been interested in Saiyans long enough to create one that is now an adult. They wouldn't have come here yet if they weren't able to safely keep Saiyans."

"Well," Bulma said, starting to pull herself up out of her grief and beginning to think clearly again, "there's always the spaceship my father and I have been working on. It's not ready yet, but it will be soon, if I can get him to focus on the important things and not trivial details."

She was starting to feel a little bit better. She always felt better when she could focus on something, when she was working on something and trying to figure things out. It was harder for her when she had nothing to focus her energies on, because then her grief and emotions could overwhelm her, and she wouldn't be able to deal with her loss.

"Videl is right!" Chi-Chi insisted shrilly. "You can't leave my baby boy – well, my other baby boy," she said, glancing once at Goten, "in the hands of those… those… those _beasts!_ You have to do something _now_! I don't want to wait months for a stupid ship to be ready. Goku, you have to do something to bring my little boy back _now_."

"Chi-Chi…" Goku's face was stern as he stared down at his wife.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up at him. She felt suddenly like a recalcitrant child, something she had never experienced with her innocent husband.

"We can't do miracles, not without the dragon balls. And we don't have those right now. We're going to have to do the best we can. Those 'beasts' managed to knock five Saiyans unconscious somehow. They have abilities we can't even imagine. If _you_ know the secret of defeating them, then don't hold back on us now. But if you don't, then just remember that we are doing our best, and although we would like your _constructive_ input, if you have nothing to do but yell and nag, then it's probably better if you stay out of this."

Chi-Chi felt tears filling her eyes. Her sweet, innocent Goku had never scolded her before. She felt like a mischievous child who had been caught causing trouble, and the sudden turnabout confused her.

"Goku, don't you _care_ about your son? Don't you care about me? I'm his mother! I want my son back. How could you expect me to behave any differently?"

"How can I expect you to _not_ behave differently, Chi-Chi?" he replied quietly, his face still stern. "I love my son as well, and I know Bulma loves her husband and daughter. We don't love them any less than you do. But we're not wasting time blaming other people, we're trying to find a solution to bring them back. Which is what _you_ should be doing as well."

He very carefully didn't turn his gaze toward Videl, but his censure of Chi-Chi quite obviously included the younger woman as well.

Videl stared at her father-in-law incredulously, confused by his uncharacteristic behavior. But she realized that he was right. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry. There is no excuse for my actions," she said softly. She gazed at him. "What's happened to you? Why are you so different? Did the aliens do something to you?"

"No, they didn't do anything to me," he replied, still looking serious. Then, for a brief moment, there was a flash of his old self as he put one hand behind his head and grinned sheepishly. "Vegeta made a wish for my birthday, that's all." He grew serious again, and his hand dropped as he looked away from all of them. "He made a wish that… well, I'm not sure if I like it or not yet. I don't think I would want to go back to what I was, but now that I know what I've done, it… torments me."

He turned haunted eyes toward his wife and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, Chi-Chi. I shouldn't have scolded you. I've put you through so much Hell throughout your life, and you've deserved better. I owe you so much, and I promise I will never leave you again." He took her small hands into his larger ones. "Never," he vowed, gazing into her eyes.

Bulma's eyes narrowed as she watched all of this and listened to Goku's words. Bra had said that Vegeta had wished for him to be smart, but this seemed to go beyond just "smart". Somehow, she was going to have to get Goku to take some IQ tests. She had the feeling she wouldn't be able to trick him into it anymore, so she'd probably just have to be honest about it. But she did want to know exactly how smart he had become. If he was smart enough, maybe she could even teach him to help her with the ship.

"We need to get things ready to go after them all," Trunks said softly, trying to gently steer the conversation back to the main point. He knew that Goku was still trying to come to terms with what his father's wish had done to him, but now wasn't the time for it. They needed to get their loved ones back.

"That won't be necessary. They'll make their way back on their own in a year," a soft, female voice announced from the back of the room. The unexpected guest appeared to be a young woman in her early twenties with blue eyes and long blue hair held back in a loose braid. She wore a bright red tunic belted over a black jumpsuit, a bluish-white tail entwined with a black leather belt.

Bulma stared at the girl, her eyes going wide with recognition. Her daughter was only a little girl, but… there was no mistaking this girl, who looked so much like her and Vegeta.

"Bra?" she said hesitantly, gazing intently at the girl. She ignored the sudden stares in her direction. "You… _are_ Bra, aren't you?" she asked, unsure of herself.

The blue-haired girl nodded, smiling slightly before her face returned to the wary and haunted expression of one who had seen too many battles and experienced too much loss. "It's me, Mama. I'm here with some others from the future to protect you."

At her words, Gohan and two teenagers, a boy and a girl, stepped into the room. The girl had a tail, while the boy did not. He bore a striking resemblance to Videl.

"Gohan," Videl whispered, clutching her tiny son to her as she moved toward her husband.

He stepped toward her, taking her in a fierce embrace. Pain and grief etched his face as he held her tightly. "My Videl," he whispered roughly. Everyone could see he wanted to say more, but something stilled his tongue.

"Gohan?" Goku asked curiously, feeling unsure of himself for almost the first time since Vegeta had made his wish. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Gohan didn't reply, instead simply releasing Videl and staring down at her wordlessly for a long minute, then taking her mouth in a deep kiss. "Just remember that I will always love you," he told her quietly, a strange gruffness in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Videl asked, her voice soft and breathy. "Why are you so… different? How did you get back to me?"

"Nothing's wrong," Gohan said, running a hand down Videl's cheek. "I just… missed you, is all. I haven't seen you in a while." There was a bittersweet smile on his face. "I can't tell you more, my love. Not without… not without changing things." A look of pain passed over his face once more, and he turned away again.

"Gohan, there's something you're not telling us," Goku admonished.

Gohan laughed softly, not looking at them. "Yes, even in our time we find your intelligence disconcerting, Dad. We're so used to you being innocent. Vegeta took away your innocence, but we're going to need every bit of your intelligence to help us get through this. And every bit of power possessed by everyone in this room."

Goku turned to look at the other two that had come with his son and his best friend's daughter and studied them. Strangely, the baby in Videl's arms cooed and reached toward the boy, and Goku had a realization. His face lit up, and he blurted out, "You're Iki!"

The boy blushed and smiled at him. He seemed to be trying very hard not to look at the younger version of himself, but every time he caught the baby's eyes, the infant would laugh, and he would blush.

"And you're…." Goku frowned as he looked at the girl with the group. She looked very similar to Vegeta. She couldn't be…. His eyes widened. _Vegeta, what did they do to you to force you to mate with that Saiyan female they created? Oh, Vegeta! Where are you, and what are they going to do to you?_

"Who I am isn't important right now," she said, stepping forward. "We really don't have a lot of time to chat. The Shades will be here soon, trying to kill Chi-Chi and the baby version of Iki."

Her gaze kept sliding toward Bulma, a look of sorrow and longing showing briefly in her eyes as she tried to get a hold of herself. She took a deep breath and forced herself to look at Goku, who seemed to be more or less in charge of the group. Before she could say anything else, her half-sister laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, her blue eyes full of understanding and shared grief.

"We came back in time to complete a time loop," Bra said softly. "We're here to save you because, in our time, we've already done it."

"You're saving us because you already saved us?" Bulma's eyebrows arched in surprise, and she smiled at her daughter. "Well, that's a twist, though your brother did something similar. Your brother from an alternate future."

Trunks' eyes narrowed at the mention of the other version of himself. "Damn future me," he muttered darkly under his breath. He was much more his father's son than the other Trunks, and he hated being compared to him, constantly held up against someone who was such a mama's boy. Everyone but his parents seemed to like the other Trunks better, and even Bulma seemed quite fond of him.

Goten glanced over at him in sympathy, patting his scowling friend on the shoulder. He was very much aware of the lavender-haired youth's feelings toward his alternate self.

Goku heard Trunks' comment and wondered about it. But he decided to put it on the back burner for now, as something that had been mentioned earlier caught his attention.

"Why only Chi-Chi and Iki?" he asked Gohan and Bra curiously. "Why not the rest of us?"

Bra glanced at Gohan, getting a slight nod of approval before she spoke. "It's more than just Chi-Chi and Iki, but they are the ones that will be the most vulnerable. The Shades don't want Mama dead, and everyone else here can take care of themselves just fine."

"Well, it's nice to know they don't want me dead… I think." Bulma was suddenly concerned about what that might mean. "Wait. These 'Shades' you're afraid of, they're the enemy? Then why do they want me alive?"

Goku frowned, noticing that the four from the future appeared to be growing more agitated. "I think we should save that until _after_ we go where Gohan and Bra want us to go. Is there some place you know of where we'd be safe?" He touched his forehead as he looked closely at Gohan. It was apparent to him that his son was the leader of this group, something that made him immensely proud. But he also knew it meant Gohan was aware of things that he currently wasn't. "Can I teleport there? Or are you going to take us there?"

"The best place for us is out in the open. We're going to need to fight, and we're going to have to do it where there aren't any shadows. Not right away, at least. I want you to focus on Piccolo, and bring all of us with you. You can take everyone here, right?"

Goku glanced around the room, and then shrugged a little helplessly. "I don't know, son. I've never tried it with this many people before…."

Chi-Chi noticed her husband's hesitation and suddenly understood what was happening. For all her waspishness with him most of the time, she did love him, and she instinctively knew what to do. She stepped forward, glaring at Goku.

"Goku," she scolded, "you're thinking too much. Before Vegeta made his wish, you would never have hesitated. You would have had the confidence to do it, and you would have done it. Now that you're 'smart', you're thinking too much. Stop thinking and just do it! You're the strongest man in the world. If anyone can do it, it's you. I believe in you."

Goku stared at her in surprise for a moment before he smiled at her. Kami, how he loved his fiery little wife.

"You're right, Chi-Chi. Everyone, get in a circle and hold hands. We need everyone touching each other."

Trunks stepped forward and grabbed Goten's hand, reaching for Chi-Chi's with the other. The future version of his sister cut in, smiling at him as she gently squeezed his hand in greeting.

The teenaged Saiyan girl was the last to join the circle, Iki wrapping his arm around her waist while she nervously touched Bulma's shoulder. Gohan wrapped his tail around Videl's waist, letting her have one hand free to hold their infant son.

"Everyone ready?" Goku looked around at the group with an expression everyone recognized. It was the look that shone on his face every time he knew he was going into battle, a joy that was typically Goku. It was an expression they hadn't seen on him since Vegeta had made that wish, and most of them realized that no matter how intelligent he now was, he was still, first and foremost, the Goku they knew and loved.

Goku smiled when he saw that everyone was ready. Then he placed his fingers to his forehead again, concentrating on the ki he would always recognize as Piccolo's. He smiled when he realized the Namek had grown stronger in the intervening years.

The group appeared suddenly, a ring of humans and Saiyans, in a secluded and very peaceful area of the world. The startled Namek hovering nearby was the only indication that any sentient being had ever graced this small valley.

"Nice place you have here, Piccolo!" Goku called out cheerfully.

The surprised expression on Piccolo's face gave way to irritation as he glanced down at the group that had just trespassed on his privacy.

"What are you doing here?" he growled. "I don't appreciate you barging in on my training."

"Doesn't look much like training," Goku replied, still sounding cheerful. "It looks like you're just sitting in the air and sleeping."

Gohan hid a smile behind his hand. He knew comments like that from the various Z warriors always irritated Piccolo. They were very much aware of it, and he suspected that was why they did it, even though they knew the Namek didn't understand friendly teasing.

He decided to cut in before Piccolo had a chance to get too angry. "I told him to come here, Piccolo," he told his mentor respectfully. "It's the best place for us."

Piccolo immediately calmed upon seeing his student, but frowned again when he realized something was different. He landed nearby, walking over to the half-Saiyan, and his breath caught as he suddenly figured out what it was.

"You're from the future!" he gasped, startling the others.

"How can you tell?" Gohan asked, surprised.

Piccolo glared at him and snarled. "I can tell. I don't know how, but I can. So tell me, what are you doing from the future, and why did you need to come here?"

"My family and friends are in trouble. There are several of them who are in danger from a menace also from the future. We're caught up in a time loop, so whatever we do here has already shaped our time. If our enemies triumph, time will be changed, and we won't be able to stop them. Will you help us?"

Without hesitation, Piccolo placed one hand on Gohan's shoulder. "You know I will, Gohan. I would, and have, died for you. You know that."

Gohan nodded, and said almost sadly, "I know, Piccolo. I've always known."

"Gohan, they're coming!" Bra shouted, feeling the presence of the Shades seconds before a creeping darkness slowly approached the area. People began to glide out of the shadows, people who oozed a feeling of menace. People whose eyes showed the darkness of three in the morning, the empty time, when there was nothing but the dark and infinite sadness.

It would have been a good time to power up to super Saiyan, but none of the four from the future did so. They merely took up battle postures, looking grim and weary. They were tired of fighting. Tired of always being the only hope. So tired, but still they would fight, because there was no one else who even stood a chance against the Shades.

Goku was about to power up when he noticed his son had yet to do so. "Gohan? Is there a reason you aren't going into super Saiyan mode?"

Gohan nodded, still looking tired. "Yes, Dad. But there's no reason you can't do it. We… can't. But you can. And you should."

Goku hesitated, then nodded. "All right, son." He gave a loud yell and burst into power. His youngest glanced at him briefly, then both he and Trunks changed as well.

Goten frowned at the future version of his older brother, wondering what would end up happening that kept him from going super Saiyan. He also studied his best friend's sister. What Gohan had said indicated that he wasn't the only one who had lost the ability. Perhaps Bra would gain that power while she was captive. _Kick their asses, kiddo,_ he thought, glancing up at the sky. _Kick their asses and come home._

Then the time for speculation and worry was over as the Shades surrounded them, coming in for the kill.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Three 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

Gohan woke slowly, feeling groggy and nauseous. He wondered for a moment how he had slept so late, and why he still felt so tired. Why was it so bright? Had he left the light on all night?

He tried to force himself to get up, he didn't want Bulma yelling at him if he was late for his research work at Capsule Corp, but his body just wasn't responding. _Maybe I'm sick,_ he thought woozily. He needed to call in. He hoped Bulma would answer the phone. Vegeta would just mock him and call him weak for giving in to illness.

Vegeta! Somehow, thinking of him triggered a recent recollection. He had a vague memory of his father's birthday, and then Vegeta showed up and… it went hazy after that. What had happened?

Parts of it slowly came back to him. Strange aliens had shown up and there had been a fight. Things were foggy after that, and no matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn't recall anything more.

He turned his head slightly to the side and finally noticed that he was lying on the floor. He was in a small, very white room with almost blindingly bright lights. There seemed to be only a few pieces of furniture, but his position didn't make it conducive to recognize what they were.

Gingerly, with a mind to keeping the contents of his stomach inside him, he slowly sat up and looked around. There were two beds off to one side, each of them occupied. The figure on the closer of the beds was bundled up in blankets, but he could see some of its hair. The color suggested someone from Bulma's family.

The blue-haired occupant of the bed stirred and sat up. The little girl looked around the room, confused, scared, and not feeling well.

"Gohan?" she said, her voice shaky and uncertain as she noticed the other half-Saiyan.

"Bra? Are you all right?" He remembered how nauseous he had felt on first waking and imagined the little girl felt no better. He sat down next to her on the bed, putting one arm around her comfortingly. He didn't really know her very well, despite working for her mother, but he still felt a strong sympathy for her.

"Feeling any better?" he asked softly, noticing as the green pallor began to fade from her face. "It would probably help if we could eat soon," he muttered darkly. He had no idea why they were there, but he knew it couldn't be good.

The little girl nodded in answer to Gohan's question, then froze as she noticed the other bed. Vegeta was curled into a ball in the middle of it, his newly re-grown tail twined tightly around him.

"Daddy?" She slid off the bed and went over to the other one, climbing up and gently pushing at her father's shoulder. "Daddy?"

Vegeta moaned softly, but didn't wake. Bra shook his arm harder, convinced that he would be able to make everything all right again. "Wake up, Daddy! Wake up!"

When all else failed, she finally grabbed his tail and tugged on it. Hard. There was no response from him other than a faint whimper of pain. That was enough to scare Bra even more, bringing tears to her large blue eyes.

"Bra…" Gohan admonished softly. "I think your father is sick. Really sick. Maybe they got him with more than what they got us with." _And maybe the fact he's a full Saiyan and we're both only half is also a factor._ He didn't voice that idea out loud, not wanting to worry Bra with pointless speculation. She was only a little girl, and it was her beloved father who was sick.

"Vegeta," he said softly, touching the older man's forehead. He didn't feel feverish. He was, in fact, a bit cooler than he should have been. He was also paler than normal.

"He seems a bit shocky, but other than that, I think he's okay," Gohan said to the frightened little girl. "I'm going to need you to do something to help make him better, though. You need to snuggle up with him and keep him warm."

She gave him a wide-eyed stare and nodded, doing as he had asked. Gohan took the blanket from the other bed and wrapped them both in it, keeping it loose to allow the shared body heat to build up.

Worried, Gohan started to pace, wishing fervently that Vegeta would wake up and give him some advice. Maybe he didn't always get along with him, but the Saiyan prince was a tactical genius, something even Piccolo had admitted to. Having him alert would only be an asset for whatever they were up against, and Gohan was certain it was something very bad.

While Gohan paced and pondered, Bra snuggled close to her father, forcing herself to ignore her fear. _Daddy needs me. I have to be strong. I'm the princess of the Saiyans, and princesses don't cry when there's trouble._

With that mental declaration, she wrapped her arms around Vegeta, rubbing her small hands up and down his back in an effort to warm him. After several minutes, he finally began to stir, slowly forcing himself into a sitting position.

"Daddy!" Bra squealed, crawling into his lap and hugging him tight.

"Why's it s' dark?" he muttered, his words slurring as he blinked and tried to get his bearings.

Bra stared at him, wide-eyed, then glanced over at Gohan, hoping he would know what was wrong and could fix it.

"Dark?" Gohan looked at him sharply. Vegeta's eyes were wide open, but it was apparent that they saw nothing. "Vegeta…." He hesitated, then walked over to the bed. "It's not dark in here. In fact, the lights are almost too bright. You can't see anything, not even shadows?"

He passed his hand in front of Vegeta's face, giving a startled jerk when the older man's hand snapped up and grabbed his wrist. The movement had been quicker than Gohan would have thought possible, even for someone who could see.

"Could you see a blur or shadow?" Gohan asked, hoping that was the reason for Vegeta's quick movement.

Vegeta was silent for a long moment, still holding the half-Saiyan's wrist in a vice-like grip. Finally, he let go. "No. I saw nothing. I felt the change in air pressure.

"There were aliens… they flashed some kind of light in my eyes… what happened? Did we defeat them?" His voice was oddly calm and collected as he asked this, his sightless eyes staring in Gohan's general direction.

"I don't know," Gohan said honestly. "I think they knocked us unconscious somehow. The last thing I remember, they were in front of us. Then I woke up here with just you and Bra. I have no idea where the others are, if they're all right or anything else."

Gohan frowned. "If my dad can sense our ki, he can always come to us. So since he hasn't yet, then they have our ki blocked somehow. Or he's dead."

He said the last bluntly, trying not to let it hurt him. His father had been dead several times in the past, he reminded himself, and had always come back. Death wasn't permanent, not if you had the dragon balls. He just had to remember that.

Vegeta took a deep breath and gave a short, jerky nod. "Where are we? Describe our surroundings to me."

Gohan started pacing, and Vegeta turned his head to follow the sound. He frowned at the feel of something brushing lightly against his neck. Reaching up, his fingers encountered a thin collar of some sort.

He put his hand out, feeling around until he was able to lightly grab Bra's shoulder. She too had a thin collar around her neck.

"What are these?"

Gohan reached and touched his own neck and felt something similar. He hadn't noticed it before, Vegeta had been covered and up, and with Bra he had thought it was just some jewelry. His only excuse for not noticing the one around his own neck was how horrible he had felt when he had awoken and the ensuing distraction.

"They're metal, and they don't seem to have any seams," he observed as he looked carefully at Bra's. "I'm not sure how they got them on, or how we'd get them off. As for what they do…." He shrugged. "I have no idea."

Vegeta closed his useless eyes, his face scrunching up slightly in intense concentration. "Damn it…. Gohan, I can't power up, can you?"

Gohan blinked. It hadn't even occurred to him to try, despite the fact that he knew instant transmission and could get them all back home if he could power up. He mentally cursed himself for being an idiot and tried to reach super Saiyan. When that didn't work, he attempted to attain his Mystic state. That didn't work either. Last, he tried to gather enough ki to use instant transmission. It was no use. With the collar on, he couldn't even reach the same power level as Yamcha.

"No," he sighed in resignation. "I can't power up or use any of my abilities."

"Our ki is being blocked somehow. That means we can't be tracked by anyone. Kakarot won't be coming to our rescue," Vegeta said, a bitter note in his voice. "I suppose that leaves you to play the hero and rescue my daughter."

"Daddy, are you okay?" Bra asked, clutching his arm as she stared up at him.

"No," he said shortly, pulling away from her and scooting to the far edge of the bed.

Gohan frowned, confused by this sudden change in attitude. He had seemed so calm and sure of himself before. Now he sounded like a pouting child. Gohan was normally a very gentle person, but if Vegeta was going to act like a child, he was going to have to act like a parent. He still wasn't completely used to it with Pan, and with Vegeta… that was going to be even tougher. Vegeta had always scared him, ever since he was a child, and he had never fully gotten over that. But the prince was apparently sinking into a deep depression, and Gohan knew he had to snap him out of it.

"Vegeta, stop that! You can't allow yourself to wallow in self-pity." He sat down on the bed, letting Bra snuggle between him and her father. "I need you right now. _We_ need you right now. Even if you can't see, you're the best damned tactical expert that I know. We're going to have to be calm and rational and figure our way out of this. I'll be your eyes. You just keep your wits intact. We _need_ you. Without you, there is no way Bra or I will be able to find a way out."

"Just what the hell do you expect me to do?" Vegeta snarled. "I can't see a damn thing, and I can't power up. You are the one who is going to get us out of this. It's always your damn family that saves the day. No matter what I do, or how hard I try, that is always the way it ends up!"

Gohan was surprised for a moment at Vegeta's outburst and was glad the older Saiyan couldn't see his expression. He schooled himself into a scowl again, knowing it would affect his tone. He raised his voice, trying to make himself sound as powerful and authoritative as possible.

"Is that how you see it? Haven't you figured things out yet? My father _never_ wins on his own! When he wins, it's because we all worked together to help him. When I killed Cell, do you think I did it by myself? If the others hadn't distracted him, I would have been killed before I could finish powering up. And if _you_ hadn't struck him when you did, I wouldn't have had the opening I did. We _needed_ you that day, and if you hadn't been there, we would all be dead now!

"It's all of us or none, Vegeta," he continued passionately, his voice dropping. "That's the way it's always been. We're a _team_ and whether you like it or not, you joined that team when you fought with us against the androids. Maybe some of our team didn't like you at first, but didn't you ever wonder why no one really argued against you being there? Because every damn one of them had started off as an enemy of my father and ended up an ally. Why? Because they, like you, eventually figured out that we were all stronger together than we are apart!"

Vegeta was silent for several moments, and Gohan began to hope that he had gotten through to him. "Fine," he finally said, sounding sulky. "At least tell me where we are. There is nothing I can do if I do not even know where we are. Describe our surroundings."

Gohan sighed, holding back his disappointment. "Well, it's not a big area. We're in a room; I'd say about thirty by forty feet. There are two beds on one wall and a sliding doorway on each of the walls framing the wall with the beds. And everything is white. Very, very white."

He stood up then and touched the sliding doorway on one wall. It opened immediately, showing a fairly decent sized bathroom. "There's a bathroom in here," he called out over his shoulder. "A sink, toilet, large bathtub, and a shower. That's it for in here. And the basics of course, soap, toilet paper, towels and such."

He walked over to the other door and pressed against it, but nothing happened. "This door doesn't open," he said grunting, trying to force it open. "It's probably locked from the other side. I think we're prisoners. But... we haven't seen anyone yet." He was more worried over that part than he liked to admit. He only vaguely remembered the aliens they had seen on Earth, and he didn't know if these others were like that, or different.

There was an odd popping sound, followed by a voice coming from the ceiling. "We are sorry for the poor accommodations, Saiyans. The habitat we have been making is not yet ready for you. Food will be given in short time. Saiyans need much food."

"'Saiyans need much food'?" Gohan arched an eyebrow. "Well, that's an understatement," he commented wryly, trying to smile.

He reached over and ruffled Bra's hair, trying to reassure her. "How you holding out, kid?"

She gave him a wavery smile, then glanced back at her father, looking worried. "Will he be okay?" she whispered. It scared her to see him like this. She wanted to be home and for everything to be normal again.

"He'll be okay," he whispered back, knowing full well Vegeta could hear them. "He's the Prince of all Saiyans, remember? Nothing can beat him." He smiled at Vegeta and was tempted to wink. Then he remembered that the other Saiyan couldn't see, and his smile faded. "We'll get through this. We're Saiyans, right? The most powerful race in the universe!"

Vegeta snorted at that comment. "If we are so powerful, then why have these beings captured us? Of what use is all of our power when it can be so easily neutralized?" he asked, reaching up to lightly touch the collar around his neck. "What is the point of trying to formulate an escape when our captors can hear our every word?"

"Vegeta…." Gohan didn't like the way Vegeta kept trying to throw out obstacles. Did he _want_ to remain a prisoner? Why was he giving up so easily? This wasn't like him. Gohan was sure there was something Vegeta wasn't telling them, but he wasn't to force it out of him. Not only couldn't he, but he didn't feel it would be right.

"Saiyans do have… another way," Gohan said slowly. "You could teach us your language. And we could use… the other method. Dad used it on Namek a few times, and Piccolo used it with me when we were fighting the androids. I've never tried to do it myself, but... I'm sure if anyone knows how to, it's you."

Gohan didn't elaborate on it. He was hoping Vegeta would understand what he meant, and that their captors would not. He didn't know how to snap Vegeta out of his depression, but at least he might be able to redirect him.

'_Ic eka zhevva ana yan.' _Gohan jumped slightly, startled as the strange words suddenly filled his head, spoken in Vegeta's voice.

'_Ic eka zhevva ana yan._ _I am not sure of this. We will perhaps give it a try. Do you even know anything of telepathy?'_

"What's that?" Bra asked, smart enough even at the age of five to know that she should not repeat the word her father had used. It was possible that the aliens could find a way to read their thoughts if they knew they could communicate together with them.

'_I used it with Piccolo a few times. And with Dad. But I've never tried to instigate it myself. I guess… I guess it's something Saiyans and some other races can do from birth, but need to be trained at it to be good. Am I right?'_ Gohan replied.

'Very good, but you need to be able to send to Bra as well when speaking to me. Concentrate on both of us as you send out your thoughts, darryn.'

Vegeta stood and started pacing, his tail lashing behind him and one arm held out to keep himself from bumping into walls. "It is useless, boy. No matter what we try, we are trapped here. There is nothing we can do." He allowed real feelings of bitterness and anger to color his voice, just as he had allowed real annoyance and frustration to infuse his tone when he had spoken of all of the times Goku had saved the day.

Teaching them his language would be useless as a way to communicate, there was no telling how long it would take the aliens to translate it with their ball device, but it would help to hone their telepathic abilities.

'_Bra, coeya, think in words as you concentrate on the two of us.'_

The little girl frowned, concentrating hard. '**_Like this, Daddy?'_** she thought, the words reverberating loudly through Vegeta and Gohan's minds.

"Ow…" Gohan groaned aloud, putting one hand to his forehead, where felt the beginnings of a headache. "Not so loud, little one."

'_Sorry,'_ she thought at a more reasonable level.

'_Very good, both of you,'_Vegeta said, the thought tinged with approval. Now he had a decision to make. He could feel depression waiting to overcome him if he gave it a chance, but he had yet to give in to it, despite his earlier actions. He could let Gohan in on what he was doing, or he could leave him ignorant.

'_Before we do anything more, I have one question. Gohan, how are your acting skills?'_

'_Acting skills?'_ Gohan asked, bewildered.

'_Get that confused look off of your face and pay attention to the spoken conversation!'_ Vegeta snapped.

'_Oh, um…' _Gohan forced an angry scowl onto his face as he tried to remember what Vegeta had been saying. He also wondered just how Vegeta had known he had looked confused. He had the distressing feeling that he found him extremely predictable.

"I'm not going to give up, no matter what! And neither is Bra. But if you are, then maybe we should let you just stew in your own feelings of defeat! You make me sick, and I see no reason to speak to you any further!"

'_I'm sorry, Vegeta,'_ he apologized. '_Um… can I just pretend I'm mad at you and talking to you? It's hard enough concentrating on this without having to do two conversations at once.'_

'Hn. I suppose you do well enough. Just keep looking angry and determined and treat me like I am useless to you.'

"Fine!" Vegeta spat. "I'd like it if you did not speak to me. I have enough to worry about without your annoying, childish prattle."

"Fine!" Gohan snarled back, stomping over to the other bed and scowling fiercely. "You can stay by yourself and sulk! I'll get us out of here."

'_Good, very good,'_ Vegeta said, his mental voice full of grudging approval. '_The best way to fool your enemies is to fool your allies, but I think I will likely need your help for this. You are too kind natured and would attempt to bring me out of my "depression" if you thought it was real.'_

Remembering Vegeta's question about his acting ability, Gohan managed to keep himself from gaping in shock. '_You mean… it was all an act? Even from the beginning?'_

'_Yes,'_ he replied calmly. '_They need to have their attention focused on you as the possible source of any trouble. You are intelligent, Gohan, but you are not cunning. And you have never counted on your ability to deceive and seem apathetic to keep you alive. I honestly do not know if we have any chance of escape, but cunning and deception are our only chances.'_

After that, they spent a good hour going over basic words and ideas in Saiyasi, steadily improving their telepathic communication as they learned, before the door leading to the outside opened. One of the blue, equinoid aliens pushed a cart full of food into the room, one of the translation balls hovering beside her.

"Greetings to you, Saiyan guests. We have brought food to you. Eat and be well, yes? We will begin the testing once you are done eating."

"What testing?" Vegeta growled, turning to look where he thought the alien to be.

"We cannot risk any more physical damage to you, so we will test you mentally. The small one will be given non-harmful testing, and the physical limits of your kind shall be tested on the hybrid male. He is more than just Saiyan or other alien. We must test his blood and his threshold for different energies."

"My _what_?" Gohan blurted out, shocked by the alien's comments. "More than just a Saiyan? Just because I'm half human? So are Trunks and Goten and even Bra! So I'm expendable since I'm half human, and you're going to torture me? I don't think so!"

He instinctively tried to power up, pushing past what he had tried before. Then he cried out in agony as powerful shocks jolted through him from the collar. When his vision cleared a few seconds later, he found himself crouched on the floor. He shook his head to clear the remaining spots from his eyes, then glared at his captor.

"You aren't going to torture me! I'm a living being, and I have _rights_!"

The alien cocked her head as she looked at Gohan, confusion clear on her strangely built face. "You are not half human. Human is the name of the main species on your planet, yes? You are only one fourth of that kind of being."

Gohan growled, pulling himself to his feet. "What are you talking about?" he snarled at the alien. "My father is Saiyan and my mother is human. I don't know what other kind of thing you think I am, but you're wrong."

"We are the Keepers. We are never wrong," the alien said gently, as if informing a small child of one of the inherent facts of the universe. "Eat now, yes? The testing must soon begin."

With that, she turned and left the room, the door closing and locking behind her. Vegeta carefully made his way towards the cart, grunting slightly in annoyance as he managed to accidentally ram his shin into it.

"They will take us away for testing no matter what," the Saiyan prince said. "We might as well eat something." 

"Well, at least for you the testing isn't going to _damage_ you. You seem to be important to them, but I'm expendable." Gohan spoke bitterly, but didn't allow that to stop him from going over to the cart. Without letting it be obvious, he tried to make it easier for Vegeta to find things, so he didn't get too frustrated with his blindness. He also made sure Bra had plenty to eat and wasn't feeling too intimidated by them to reach for anything.

'_Vegeta,'_ Gohan said to the prince directly, making sure to keep his thoughts from Bra. '_I don't know what they have planned for us, but even though they're feeding us, I don't think it's good. Plus, they said they were going to test you mentally. Let's hope they don't figure out you're telepathic.'_

'_Hopefully not. I think they are merely planning something along the lines of mental torture,'_ Vegeta said, his mental voice strangely calm. '_I am more worried about how they plan to eventually force me to mate with their created Saiyan. They must know that I will not do it willingly. They may use a threat against you or Bra to force me into it. Be on your guard once they take you from this room.'_

'_We can keep making them think we hate each other,'_ Gohan suggested. Then he looked down at the little girl sitting next to him who smiled innocently up at him. '_Damn it. Then they would just use Bra against you. I can't think…we have to get her out of here, Vegeta. We can't let them use her against us.'_

'_Promise me something, Gohan. If they use her to try to make you do something, do it. I don't think they'll be quick to hurt her, but there are things you can do to a person that leave no physical damage. '_

'I...' He looked down at the smiling little girl again and swallowed. '_I won't let them hurt her, Vegeta. No matter what they do to me, I'm not going to let them hurt her. Not if I can help it at least. I'll kill all of them with my bare hands, even if it costs me my life.'_

'_Good,' _Vegeta thought with a slight nod. Then the three of them turned their attention to eating, wondering what the Keepers had in store for them.

…

The two aliens released Gohan back into the room, indifferent to the way he stumbled to the floor. He groaned, his entire body aching. Even though they had healed him after finishing, the lingering pain was still there.

"Damn torturers!" he muttered darkly as he lifted himself onto his hands. "I'll kill them all. I swear it!"

It was only then that he noticed Bra was in the room, her eyes wide with concern and fear. He felt a pang of guilt for letting her see him this way, even though he knew he couldn't have helped it.

"I'm sorry, Bra," he gritted, trying to make it sound like the truth. "It will be all right. Really." He was lying, but he hoped she didn't realize it. He didn't even have the strength to get up off the floor. Instead, he remained there, his arms shaking with the strain of holding him up.

The little girl bit her lip as she gazed at him. Then she nodded to herself, coming to some sort of decision. She trotted to the bathroom, her slender white tail waving behind her.

Gohan heard the water in the sink run, followed by the sound of Bra's approach. She held a small plastic cup of water out to him, her free hand lightly touching his shoulder.

Gohan stared at her a moment, completely dumbfounded. Too surprised to say anything, he simply took the cup from her and swallowed the water quickly.

"Thank you, Bra," he said, still staring at her as though he couldn't understand her. Then his brow furrowed in worry. "They didn't... they didn't hurt you, did they? You're all right?"

Bra shook her head. "They didn't hurt me. They put me in a room with a big window so they could watch me, and gave me a bunch of easy puzzles and stuff."

She wasn't aware of it, but the Keepers had been very impressed by how well she had done with the "easy" puzzles they had given her. Any other child her age would have found them difficult, though manageable.

Gohan smiled. He had some idea how smart she was, and knew she was probably underestimating herself. "You're your mother's daughter," he said quietly. "Beautiful, brilliant, and caring. She was a bit of a bitch when she was younger, though," he muttered, forgetting she could hear it. "She scared the shit out of all of us except Piccolo."

Her eyes widened a bit at his description of her mother. Her father tried to keep his language clean while around her, but he didn't always succeed, giving Bra a vocabulary that wasn't considered good for a five-year-old girl.

"Are you okay now, Gohan?" she asked, worried.

"Huh?" He looked up at her in surprise. "Oh. I don't know. I will be." He grimaced as he finally pulled himself up off the ground. He felt like screaming with the pain in his joints. "They spent a few hours taking me apart, and then they put me back together again." His tone was wry and bitter. "For all their skill and technology, they have no compassion or understanding for living beings."

"Daddy will stop them," she said, sounding very sure of herself. "He'll punish them for hurting you. He's your prince, and he is supposed to look out for you. That's what he always tells me."

"That's _what_?" This was the first time Gohan had ever heard sentiments like that from Vegeta. Admittedly it wasn't Vegeta saying it to him, but Bra said it as though her father had said it to her many times. It was almost like a speech she had memorized. He wondered if Vegeta really meant it when he said that to her, or if he was just saying it to talk.

Then he thought about it. Even when he had first known Vegeta, even when they were enemies, Vegeta had saved him on Namek twice. There had been no reason for it, and Gohan had been both surprised and confused. Vegeta had refused to explain himself at the time, and had, in fact, yelled at Gohan as though the rescue had been completely against his will.

His own feelings towards the Saiyan prince were confused and muddled. He had always respected him, at least once they had become uneasy allies on Namek, but had never really liked him. Vegeta was too harsh, too cold, and too brutal. Gohan, used to his father's gentle ways, had always felt intimidated and overwhelmed by the Saiyan prince's presence.

But then he thought of Trunks and Bra. Neither of them had ever seemed to feel that their father was anything but perfect. Neither child had ever acted like they were neglected or abused, like Gohan had always thought the offspring of Vegeta would be. Could it be that Vegeta really was different with his family? Could it be that he wasn't as cold and uncaring as he pretended to be?

He narrowed his eye, considering what Vegeta had said earlier about deception and seeming to be apathetic. Was it possible that Vegeta had continued his act to some degree even after he had more or less become one of them?

His line of thought was disrupted as he noticed Bra staring at him in concern, obviously wondering why he had been silent for so long. He smiled at her reassuringly, holding his arms out for her to crawl into them and snuggle against him.

'_Sorry, little one,' _he told her telepathically, rubbing his chin against her soft hair. '_I am beginning to understand that your father is a different person than I had always thought. You know him better than I do. Can you help me see him for what he really is?'_

'_Daddy is different from what most people think. Sometimes he doesn't like Kakiku, because Kakiku gets stronger than him. How can he protect his people if his people are stronger than him? How can he keep bad things from happening to him again if he isn't the strongest?'_

Before Gohan could react to that spate of information, the doors opened and Vegeta was shoved into the room. The Saiyan prince staggered until he came to the wall, then he turned to lean against it and allowed himself to slowly slide down to the floor. His useless eyes were closed, and his breathing had a slightly ragged quality to it.

'_Vegeta?'_ Gohan's eyes widened, and he automatically started from his seat to help the older Saiyan. It was with considerable effort that he held back, deliberately turning his face away from Vegeta. "So, are you still giving up?" he asked derisively. "Who is the weak one now?"

'_Are you all right, Vegeta?'_ Gohan's thoughts were very different from his words. He was getting better at saying one thing and telepathically communicating something else. It was difficult, but he was learning. '_Bra, go over to your father and help him._ He released her from his lap to go over to her father. _Vegeta, I swear, I am going to tear these aliens apart for everything they have done to us...'  
_  
"Giving up seems to be the only option we really have," Vegeta said softly as Bra came over to him. The little girl snuggled close, and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her soft hair.  
_  
'There will be no need for you to tear them apart. I will do it myself,' _Vegeta thought grimly_.' I will be all right in a few moments. Apparently, these beings consider sensory deprivation as a sort of mental torture. That or they figured they might as well see how I would react to being cut off from all of_ _my senses, rather than just my sight. '_

"Only a weakling gives up," Gohan sneered. "I've always known you were a weakling. Even you know it. That's why my father always beats you - because you're really a weakling."

'_Sensory deprivation?'_ Gohan was startled. That wasn't something he had thought of. '_But what about your ki senses? Did you still have that?'  
_  
Gohan concentrated, wondering if his ki sensing abilities were even still working. He was a little hesitant, remembering how trying to gather ki earlier that day had caused a great deal of pain. To his surprise, he found himself still able to do it, the collars not even twinging in response.

'_Apparently these things around our necks don't block our ki senses,'_ Gohan informed him. '_I can sense both of you, and….'_ He concentrated a little. '_Two... no three... aliens outside. One of them is going away now. But if we can sense them, that's going to give us an advantage.'_ He frowned. '_But did they block that sense from you when they were torturing you?'_ Without intending to, he briefly flashed through their mental link the torments the Keepers had put him through earlier._  
_  
Bra whimpered as she experienced the flash of Gohan's memories, burrowing as close to her father as she could get. He held her close, murmuring soft words of comfort as he gently stroked her back. Without really being aware of it, he wrapped his tail around her, using it to hold her close.

'_Damn it, Gohan, be careful of what you send to her. Don't worry, coeya, they will pay for what they have done to him. I will see to it.'_

'Because no one messes with a Saiyan without answering to you,' Bra said, her mental voice shaky.

'_Exactly, coeya. No one messes with my people and gets away with it.' _He turned his head to face Gohan's general direction. '_I don't know if they were able to block my ability to sense ki or not. I didn't even attempt to use it, as they were monitoring my mental reactions.' _

'_I'm sorry, Vegeta.'_ Gohan's mental voice was contrite. '_I wouldn't hurt her on purpose, you know that. I guess I just need to learn to control it better.'  
_  
He ignored for the moment the conversation between father and daughter. He was trying to absorb it, but it would take some time.

'_That was a good idea, Vegeta, not trying to use your ki sense. I don't know that I would have thought of that_.' He found himself feeling embarrassed. '_I probably would have been so anxious to prove to myself that I still could that I would have tried. I'll make sure I don't, if they decide to do that to me as well.'_

'_We will bring these bastards down, boy,'_ Vegeta thought fiercely, carefully excluding Bra from the conversation. '_You will be my eyes, and we will make these bastards pay.'_


	4. Chapter 4

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Four 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

The four warriors from the future stood together, grim and ready to fight. Each knew and accepted that this could be their last battle. They faced this knowledge every time they encountered the Shades. The Shades that had ripped apart and helped to shape who they now were.

Their only comfort was the knowledge that they would be able to protect most of those who fought with them this day. They were in their own past, a timeline their actions and the actions of the Shades could not change without disrupting the flow of time and destroying them all. They would win this battle, but the cost of doing so was still unknown.

Most of the Shades currently against them wore their human bodies like ill-fitted clothing. The innocent people were just puppets, rather than fully bonded hosts. Killing them would do nothing to the beings within. It would only slow them down. All they could do was hold them off and pray that the missing member of their group would show up in time.

Bra watched them draw near, her blue eyes cold and hard as she prepared for what was to come. She drew in a deep breath, readying herself to once more enter into the dance of death.

She exploded into a whirlwind of motion, blurred kicks, punches, and dazzling flashes of multi-colored energy leaving a swath of Shade Puppets down and bleeding in her wake. Her battle aura flared around her, a flickering rainbow of colors rather than one solid hue. She knew without looking that the others from her time, at least, had joined the fray.

Goku noted how the two older fighters from the future - it was difficult to think of Bra as "older"- seemed to coordinate very well together. Despite their ages, the younger two seemed to work well together as well. It almost seemed like the four of them were pair fighting.

Goku's distraction with his new allies and their techniques, however, allowed one of their enemies to catch him surprise, something that never would have happened before he had been wished to be intelligent. Determinedly, he turned towards the Shade attacking him, deliberately tuning out distractions and concentrating on the fight. As was usual with him, it didn't take long for his blood to pound and sing and the joy of the fight to take over.

Bulma watched all of this from behind a boulder, where she hid with Chi-Chi, wondering exactly what they were doing here. The others had said they had to protect Chi-Chi and Iktomi specifically. So why had they _all_ been dragged out here? Wouldn't that put all of those who were most vulnerable, including herself, in danger?

_What do they do, kidnap me and make me build things for them?_ Bulma didn't like the sound of that one bit. It was better than being killed, she supposed, but she had never liked the idea of working for the enemy.

Several stray blasts of energy singed the area near them. "What the hell was _that_?" Bulma cried out, staring at the burned spot in front of her. It didn't look anything like the ki blasts her friends normally used.

When she saw a layer of ice form on a patch of ground struck by another blast of energy, it dawned on her that the Shades were using the elements in some manner. She had never heard of anything like it, but of course she didn't have much experience with fighting other than what her friends did.

She tore herself from that line of thought and quickly scanned the battle, looking for her one remaining child from the present time.

Trunks was several yards away from the boulder, barely managing to dodge bolts of electricity. His mind was obviously only partially focused on the battle. He kept glancing back where his mother hid with Chi-Chi, making sure she was all right. Bra had said that no one wanted their mother dead, but he couldn't help worrying about her.

Another part of his attention was focused on the adult version of his baby sister. No matter her age, he still felt protective of her. And there was something odd about how she interacted with Gohan. Something he couldn't put his finger on, but that he wasn't very comfortable with.

"Damn it, Trunks, _move_!" Trunks' breath flew from him with a grunt as Goten slammed into him, knocking him out of the way of a huge chunk of rock. "Stop daydreaming and pay attention," Goten snapped.

"Yeah…" the lavender-haired teen said shakily, getting back to his feet. "Thanks, Goten."

"No problem. Let's fuse and take these bastards out!"

The two of them began the fusion dance, only to be stopped by Goten being hit by a blast of ice. It seemed that these enemies at least weren't going to just sit around and watch them do the stupid dance.

Hidden within another outcropping of rocks, Videl winced, watching as her brother-in-law was knocked out of the sky by a huge ball of ice. She and Pan could both fight, but the Shades wanted to kill little Iktomi. The two of them would be the ones to protect him.

"Grandpa!" Pan suddenly shouted, noticing someone coming up behind Goku. She ran towards him, easily dodging as her mother tried to grab her.

"Pan!" Videl screamed, trying to catch the girl. She cursed softly, wanting to run after her, but knowing she had to keep Iki safe and hidden.

Pan was no longer willing to be left out of the fight. She was part Saiyan, and she was going to defend the ones she loved. No one was going to hurt her grandpa while she was around!

She ran toward the enemy, striking him hard, just as he was raising a hand to throw some sort of energy blast at Goku's back. The Shade turned towards her, raised a hand… and suddenly backed off, looking fearful. Confused, the child took a determined step toward him. He turned and fled.

Pan didn't bother to chase after him. "Are you all right, Grandpa?" she asked.

Goku stared after the Shade that had attacked him. He had stopped running and was fighting Goten. "I'm fine. Pan, what are you doing here?"

She puffed her chest out proudly. "I'm gonna help you fight them!" she declared hotly. "I'm gonna protect Mommy and Iki!"

Goku's eyes widened. He was going to admonish her, but he was distracted by the fighting around them before he got a chance. "Pan, go to your mother! If you're going to help her, go next to her to do it!"

Then he was engaged with several Shades, fighting with all of his concentration.

The little girl pouted, unaware that she was a small oasis of peace in the raging chaos around her. "I'm not gonna get outta the way," she muttered sullenly. "I'm gonna fight too! I'm strong!"

She ran toward of the Shades fighting against Goten, a tall woman with bright red hair. The woman turned her black, fathomless eyes toward Pan, preparing to attack. And then, like the enemy Pan had faced previously, she suddenly backed up and fled.

Crossing her arms over her chest, the little girl stamped a foot angrily. "Why do they keep running away?" Then a sudden thought flashed through her mind and her face brightened. "They're scared of me! I'm the one who is going to beat 'em and they know it, so they're scared!"

More determined than ever, the little girl charged into the nearest group of Shades. Again, they fled the moment they saw her. The little girl grinned at an astounded Goten. "See? They're scared of me. I'm gonna fight 'em all!"

Bulma was staring at the scene before her. "Chi-Chi, what is your granddaughter doing out there?" she asked in amazement.

"What?" Chi-Chi snapped, peering out from behind the boulder protecting them. Her eyes widened and fear and horror. What was her little grandbaby doing in the midst of all that danger?

Then both women watched as Pan routed group after group of Shades. She didn't seem to be causing them to flee the battle, but they did avoid her as best they could. Neither woman knew what to make of it.

"Do you suppose," Bulma asked slowly, "that Pan has a power we don't know about? They seem afraid of her. Maybe that's why Bra and Gohan didn't say that she was in danger. Maybe she's the only one who isn't!"

The two women watched Pan in awe, completely unaware of the Shade possessed man who was creeping up behind them, intent on killing Chi-Chi. The Shade in control of the body had fought the woman before, in the future, and felt great satisfaction at the thought of killing her.

Before the Shade could strike, two white-gloved hands came up out of his shadow and firmly grabbed his ankles, pulling down into the darkness of the Shadowed Ways, the innocent human puppet becoming Shadow Lost while the Shade was devoured by those who guarded the Ways.

The cloaked man rose up from the shadows, his hidden gaze going from Chi-Chi to Bulma.

Bulma did what came naturally to her when something frightening loomed up at her suddenly. She screamed.

"Bulma!" Chi-Chi snapped at the older woman. "Stop it! If he were an enemy, we'd already be dead!"

Before Bulma could respond, Goku had already gotten between them, moving so quickly that neither woman had seen it. "I don't know who you are," he said firmly to the new arrival, "but I won't allow you to hurt either my wife or my best friend."

The cloaked figure stood perfectly still, not even bothering to shift his gaze to the big man. "I mean them no harm, Saiyan," he said quietly in a softly accented voice the three of them found vaguely familiar. "I am Father Dian of the Gem Order, bound to those who dwell within the Shadowed Ways by the god of the Gems. If I were here to be your foe, you could not stop me."

"Dad!" Gohan lifted two fingers to his forehead and teleported between his father and the new arrival. "He's on our side," he assured the others anxiously. "We've been waiting for him to arrive. We can't beat these things without him!"

While the others were talking, Bulma was trying to figure out where she had heard the stranger's voice before. The tone and the slight, odd accent sounded very familiar to her…. Then, with a sudden realization, her eyes widened. Of course she had heard that voice before! She heard it every night in passion, and every day in verbal barbs. Try as he might to disguise it, she knew her husband's voice.

Bulma opened her mouth, stepping toward the man who had disappeared this morning, whom she had been told she wouldn't see for another year. _That's too long to wait,_ she realized in despair. She had been without him too many times, had lost him too often. She didn't want to lose him again. She lifted her hand to touch him.

_Don't,_ he said into her mind, jerking away from her hand. _Don't let them know who I am, please, incarre._

He turned away from her, bringing his attention to Goku. "Ka-" he stopped himself in mid-word and took a deep breath, getting back under control. "Goku, the others are being overwhelmed while we talk here. Give me your hand and try to channel your power into me."

Bulma felt hurt by his apparent rejection, but was mollified somewhat by the endearment. It reassured her that he still loved her, or he would not have used that term. _At least he comes back to me,_ she thought wistfully. _He's alive in the future, so he comes back to me and stays with me. I don't think I could bear it if I lost him forever._

"Channel my power?" Goku frowned thoughtfully, wondering what the stranger meant. Then he remembered something he had done on Namek, the time he had given some of his power to Krillin and Gohan when they were injured.

"Okay," Goku said abruptly. Something in him decided to trust this person. He touched him, sending out some of his ki and wondering what the other man would do with it.

The cloaked one held out his staff, the tip pointing upwards, as he felt Goku's energy flow into him. He took a deep breath and sent it, plus his own, into the staff, feeling the warm, smooth wood amplify the power as it sent it up into the sky in a wide, soft diffusion of violet light. Light that drove away the weakest of the Shades, leaving only the most powerful and those that had fully bonded to their human slaves.

He opened his eyes at the sound of mocking laughter coming from one of the latter variety of Shade.

"Very well done, little gem priest, very well done," the Shade mocked. It wore the body of a large, muscular man with long brown hair, but the voice that emerged was a purring, feminine contralto. He sauntered forward, smirking. "You are lucky, little priest, that the Great Shade did not allow us to bring our best fighters. How do you think this little group would have faired against Tanva or Aien?"

"Enough talk, Shade," the hooded one growled, taking a step forward.

"Doesha is soft and wishes you unharmed," the Shade sneered. "I won't touch you, but I would dearly love to see what killing your little soul mate would do to you."

With those words, he brought up his hand, forming an intense burst of electrical energy, enough to overwhelm and kill even a Saiyan. Goku took a protective step toward Bulma, his instincts knowing full well who the cloaked man was even if his conscious mind hadn't figured it out yet. The deadly bolt headed not toward the human woman, but toward the unprotected Gohan.

As the bolt sped towards the half Saiyan too fast for any of the others to respond, there was one fighter who reacted immediately and instinctively.

"Gohan!" the Namek cried out, interposing his body between the bolt and his pupil in a manner more than vaguely reminiscent of a similar time so long ago. And like then, Gohan's reaction was immediate and intense.

"_No! Piccolo!_"

As the Namek fell, his body electrified, the half Saiyan threw himself at him, catching the green-skinned warrior before he hit the ground.

"Piccolo!" he moaned out. "Why did you do that?"

Piccolo gave a weak smile, even as he felt his life force fading. "I couldn't have you get killed before me, could I, kid? You're Gohan, even if you are from the future…."

Gohan felt his mentor's ki disappear, and the grief overwhelmed him completely. He had _known_ that Piccolo would die the day they were kidnapped, but he hadn't known how. By having his father teleport to where Piccolo was waiting, he had doomed his friend as surely as if he had fired the bolt himself.

Warm, familiar hands gently closed on his shoulders, Bra offering silent comfort. The cloaked one also moved forward, placing one gloved hand on Gohan's head.

"I'm sorry, darryn…" he whispered. "I know what he meant to you. At least he got to die now and won't have to witness the horrors to come."

"Aww, how sad," the Shade mocked once more in that disturbingly feminine voice. "I accidentally made fried green bean casserole." He readied another electric bolt, this one slightly less powerful than before, but not by much. He sent it once more toward Gohan, the half Saiyan too overcome by grief to even attempt to dodge.

This time, it was the cloaked one who moved in to his defense, his staff held out. The bolt hit the amethyst, the violet gem absorbing the electrical energy in a violent burst of power that knocked its wielder back, throwing him to the ground and forcing back the hood that had hidden his scarred features from view.

"Vegeta!" Gohan shouted, leaping towards the older man.

The Saiyan prince waved him away and slowly got to his feet. The expression on his face was enough to make the leader of the Shades back away, uncertain of himself.

"You are new to this realm," Vegeta said, his voice deadly soft. "You must be. Or you would know that I _have_ fought Tanva and Aien, and I have held my own against them. You are nothing."

Fear flickered across the Shade's face, but he had no time for any other reaction before Vegeta brought up his staff and channeled his power through it, adding it to the electrical energy the gem had just stored.

The Shade was knocked from his feet and sent sailing through the air, screaming. With a quick calculation, Vegeta figured where he would land - the shadow of a large tree.

A grim, savagely pleased smile crossed Vegeta's face as he ripped open the fabric of reality and sent his foe into the Shadowed Ways. The Shade was fully bonded with the human host, so the Guardians of the Ways would not be able to devour it. It would be forever Shadow Lost, a far worse fate.

Goku studied Vegeta for a moment, noting how different he seemed. He wondered about the scars, the staff, and his rival's new powers, but knew that now wasn't the time to ask.

"Let's finish up the rest of them, eh, Gohan?" Goku said, turning away from Vegeta to look at his son. "There aren't too many left."

"All right. But… I can't go super Saiyan, remember."

"That's all right." Goku smiled at him. "Goten and Trunks and I can. Hey, you two?" He looked at the two confused teenagers. "You want to join us as Gotenks?"

The two young men glanced at each other, Trunks trying not to stare at the future version of his father, then nodded. Before they could begin the fusion dance once more, Videl screamed.

The Shades had been shocked at their leader's death, but that hadn't stopped some of them from remembering their mission and heading towards the least protected of their targets.

Videl backed away from three of the eleven remaining Shades, holding a wailing Iktomi tightly to her as she concentrated on holding a ki shield around them both.

"Mom!" the future Iktomi screamed, heading toward her as fast he could, cursing himself for being so absorbed in everything else that he had neglected to watch out for his mother and baby self. The teenage Saiyan girl who had been like his shadow all during the battle was right behind him.

"Boys!" Goku shouted at Goten and Trunks. "Goten! Go help Videl. She's alone with the baby and can't fight and protect him at the same time. Trunks, protect Chi-Chi! Gohan and the rest of us will take care of the others."

"I'm going to help too, Grandpa." Pan insisted, marching up behind him.

"No, Pan," he said sternly. "You hide somewhere and stay safe."

"_No!"_ she shouted. "I got those things scared of me. I'm gonna help you fight them, you'll see." Tears welled up in her eyes, but her anger only made her more stubborn. "You can't make me go, Grandpa. I wanna fight!"

"We don't have time for this, Dad." Gohan said, sparing only the briefest of glances at his daughter. "We have to fight them and protect Mom. _Now!_"

Goku stared at his son, wondering suddenly why Gohan had yet to say a single word to his daughter. He decided to ask later and nodded, powering up suddenly and releasing a furious round of ki blasts that took several of their enemies. Gohan and Bra fought once again in unison, taking out their enemies with techniques that were flawless, even if not nearly as powerful as they had once been.

Pan ran through the battle, Shades carelessly darting away from her and into the path of various attacks. The little girl was ecstatic at being able to help. Her uncle and his best friend had often gently teased her about not being able to go super Saiyan, and this was her chance to show that she was just as tough as they were.

Gradually, the Shades fell, greatly weakened by the burst of Goku's soulstaff enhanced energy. Finally, they were gone, leaving the group of present and future warriors utterly exhausted.

"Vegeta?" Bulma murmured softly, walking over to him. Tears filled her eyes when as she studied the scars on his face and the black patch covering the empty socket of his left eye. "What happened to you?"

Goku blurred over to them before Vegeta could answer. Once again, he wondered what tortures the older Saiyan had undergone, and wondered if it was related to being forced to mate with another woman. He said nothing, however, not wanting to hurt Bulma.

"What I'd really like to know is why that creature seemed to think my husband is Vegeta's soul mate," Videl said, sounding grumpy as she trudged over to them all. Baby Iktomi seemed to have sensed when the battle was over and was now sleeping peacefully in her arms.

Videl instinctively moved next to Gohan, calling Pan to her while she waiting for an answer.

"There was an accident that resulted in me being Shadow Lost," Gohan finally said when it became apparent that Vegeta had no intention of answering. The older man scowled at him, but Gohan ignored it. "In order to save me, Vegeta had to give up a piece of his soul, which the Dwellers of the Shadowed Ways put inside me, so I could safely walk the Ways.

Videl blinked. "You have a piece of his soul in you?" she blurted, startled. She hadn't been expecting that to be the answer. She had never really thought much of Vegeta, considering him to be too hard and cold. She shuddered slightly, unable and unwilling to imagine what it must be like to have a part of his soul.

"You gave Gohan part of your soul?" Bulma asked Vegeta, more gently than Videl had. "You gave up part of your soul to save him." She bent down and kissed his lips lightly, feeling bittersweet about it. He was here, but he was from the future. Her Vegeta was in space somewhere being held prisoner, and she had been told she wouldn't see him for a year. Did it _have_ to be like that? Why couldn't they rescue them now?

Goku blinked in surprise, then smiled suddenly. He wasn't as surprised as Videl was to discover that Vegeta had been willing to make a sacrifice to save his son. He'd always thought Vegeta was a better person than anyone else was willing to accept. After all, if he weren't, Bulma wouldn't have stayed with him for so long.

Before he had a chance to comment, or to ask Vegeta about the scars and his eye, Pan bowled her way forward.

"Didja see it?" she crowed, bouncing excitedly. "They was scared of me! They knew I could hurt 'em or something. Hey Uncle Vegeta! Am I a big hero in the future? Is that why they was all scared of me?"

Gohan's face lowered at her words and his fists clenched. The others could hear Bra speaking softly to him, but they couldn't understand her words.

"Daka vende, incarre," Bra murmured. "Hrra darra lon ekorri."

Bulma's attention shot toward her daughter at those words. She didn't recognize most of them, but 'incarre'… that was what Vegeta had always called her. He had long ago told her it was the closest thing to the word 'beloved' that he knew in Saiyasi. If Bra called Gohan that, then either she didn't know what the word meant, or… the one person who could have taught her the word knew what she wanted to know it for. There was only one person who still spoke Saiyasi, but would he have taught it to his daughter, to use it on the oldest son of a man he pretended to hate?

Gohan growled and spat back at Bra, "Hrra ekorri ganna sha vehe orn!"

Goku looked from his son to Vegeta, then down at Pan. The little girl seemed unaware of her future father's anger, and Goku could make no sense of it. Why was he so angry with his daughter? The enemies had fled from her, that much was obvious. So why was Gohan so upset about it?

"Zhevva. Sha ina pakata fah'or," Bra said softly, placing a hand on Gohan's shoulder. She switched languages suddenly, wanting the people of the present to be able to understand her words. "We've done what we came here to do. Let's leave it at that."

Vegeta nodded at her words and pulled Bulma close to him, giving her a quick, but passionate, kiss before turning away from her and walking towards Pan. He pulled a silver chain from an inner pocket of his cloak, a red gem in the shape of a dog head hanging from it. He used his powers as a gem priest to awaken the pendent, careful to only touch the chain. Then he held it out to the little girl, gazing down at her.

Pan stared up at Vegeta, wide-eyed. "Uncle Vegeta?" she asked hesitantly. She knew he was Vegeta, despite the new scars and clothing she had never seen on him before. But she couldn't ask him what he wanted. There was something in his manner that was even less conducive to questioning than he had ever been in the past.

She reached forward and took the pendent from his grasp. She gasped when the gem glowed briefly at first contact with her hand, but the radiance quickly faded.

She looked back at the full-blooded Saiyan. She was still afraid to ask him why he was giving it to her, but somehow she knew…. She _was_ a hero, or she was going to be one, and he was giving the pendent to her to fulfill some kind of destiny. He couldn't tell her what it was, she knew, but that was the way it always was for heroes.

She placed it around her neck and looked up at him solemnly. "I'll wear it always," she promised him.

"Good girl," he said softly before turning to face Chi-Chi. His next words were for everyone, but he directed them towards her. "Gohan, Bra, and I will be back in a year, tell us nothing of what has happened here. Never let Iki or the girl know of it either. Chi-Chi, remember this: During the time that Goku cannot help you, I will be there for you. I won't let you stay lost in the darkness."

"I won't be able to protect her?" Goku was startled. He had vowed to never abandon his wife again, and he had meant it. If he couldn't be there for her, what was going to happen to him? Would he be kidnapped the way Vegeta and Gohan had been? Or was it going to be something worse?

He knew better than to ask, however. He knew that no matter what, Vegeta and the others weren't going to tell them what was going to happen to them. That they had done this much was probably against every rule, if there were rules governing such things.

He looked at Gohan, who was still grieving over Piccolo's loss, and realized that had Gohan known about his mentor's death, he might have tried to prevent it. Therefore, he couldn't be told what would happen in this battle. If he were, he would try to change it, possibly causing something even worse to happen.

"Thank you," Goku said sincerely, looking at Vegeta. "I know you can't tell us what will happen. But if you're going to help my wife when she needs it, then I want to thank you for it now."

_But I'll be there for Grandma,_ Pan thought, looking at her grandparents with anxious eyes. _I'm gonna be the hero, I know it. I'll protect all of you. I swear it. Always and forever._


	5. Chapter 5

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Five 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Warning:** The first part of this chapter contains non-consensual sex andtorture. I don't go into great detail during the sexual part of it as per the rules of this site, but this chapter is NOT for the young.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker with some assistance from Lady Macbeth

**This chapter dedicated to:** Lady Lark

…

Roughly three months after capturing Vegeta and the two half Saiyans, the Keepers changed things. The captives all thought Vegeta was being taken away for the usual experiments with mental torture. They were wrong.

The full-blooded Saiyan was stripped naked and tossed into a cavernous room he had never been in before. He grunted as he lost his balance and fell to his knees, feeling the prickle of grass against his skin.

The area smelled of wilderness, with just a touch of shipboard scent. An artificial breeze came from behind him, blowing his scent far into the room, but not bringing anything to him, since it was generated from fans in the wall near his back.

_Damn it,_ he thought to himself, _their created Saiyan is likely in here and can smell me…._

He slowly got to his feet, holding his hands out slightly to feel around. There was nothing for him to touch. He cautiously moved forward, carefully testing each patch of ground before committing his full weight to it. He strained his remaining senses, trying to detect the scent or sound of the female Saiyan.

Vegeta moved through his private world of darkness, his sensitive ears straining to pick up any sounds. Slowly, a sketchy mental image of the area was built in his mind. The earth beneath his feet had the firm, yet somewhat spongy consistency of ground that had been watered enough for grasses to thrive, but not enough to wash away the nutrients in the soil. The feeling of thick, lush grass that came up to the middle of his calf confirmed it.

Birds and small animals moved through the area, leaving their own scents and making their own small noises. He was able to ignore them for the most part. Until he heard a sound from his childhood and the scent that went along with it.

He gasped softly, suddenly overcome with an intense longing for a home he hadn't known since he was just a small boy. For the first time since their capture, Vegeta bitterly regretted the loss of his sight. He wanted so badly to see the creature he knew flew the skies of this artificial environment.

A memory surfaced, one of the last he had of his long-gone home. A child's laugh of delight as pudgy toddler arms reached out towards the furred flying creature. The animal's trilling cry and musky predator scent as it brought prey to its master, the king of the Saiyans. The feel of soft, warm fur against tiny fingers.

His preoccupation with the animal from his home planet proved to be his downfall. While he had focused on it and the memory it invoked, the female Saiyan had crept up on him, her tail sweeping up and stroking his cheek.

"A true hunter never allows anything to distract him," she said in a soft, husky voice.

Vegeta froze at the feel of the woman's soft tail fur against his skin, fighting the instinctive urge of a male Saiyan to submit to a female. Especially one who smelled fertile, like this one did.

"So, you are the pet Saiyan the Keepers created?" His voice was shaky as he spoke. With the ki suppressing collar around his neck and his blindness, he was no match for her, and he knew it.

"Pet?" she asked, her voice somewhere between amusement and annoyance. She stroked his neck, lightly running one finger along the top edge of the collar. Then she lashed out with her tail, striking him across the face. "Most animals who wear collars are pets, from what I understand."

She pushed him away from her and watched as he lost his balance, falling backward onto the grassy turf of her created environment. "I am called Kiddae, and you are now my pet."

Vegeta grunted softly as he landed on his rear in the soft grass. He bared his teeth in a snarl aimed in the woman's general direction. "I am no one's pet," he spat. "I am the prince of the Saiyans, and no genetically engineered abomination has the right to even look at me, much less touch me."

Kiddae narrowed her eyes at the haughty Saiyan. "No right?" she repeated angrily. "Do you not realize where you are? This is _my_ domain. And I _always_ get what I want."

She crouched down over the fallen prince and straddled his waist. The female settled her weight snugly onto him and leaned down close to his face. "And you _know_ what I want, little prince," she said.

"I have a mate already," he growled. "I will not betray her. If your keepers want to breed you so badly, they should just make a male for you."

He fought to ignore the enticing smell of the Saiyan female by thinking of Bulma, concentrating on the memory of her scent and the sound of her voice.

Kiddae growled in response. "Already have a mate?" She laughed harshly and dashed her hand angrily against his face. The sound of cracking bone met her ear, and Vegeta's face twisted to the side. "And what would possibly compete with me? I am the epitome of Saiyan perfection. And none less than the prince of the Saiyans will do for me."

Vegeta let out an involuntary gasp of pain as he felt his cheekbone crack. "An'thing wou be be'er than you," he mumbled, finding it hard to speak with the injury.

He twisted suddenly, trying to get out from under her. All he really managed to accomplish was to rub their nude bodies together, exciting Kiddae even more.

She gasped with pleasure at the feeling of a warm, male body gliding against her own. "Now _that_ is more fun," she said. Her own skin was becoming warm and starting to sweat, leaving a pleasant, sticky feel as she ran her hands down to his hips and took hold of them. Her tail trailed around behind her and slid underneath his thighs. Seconds later, Kiddae moaned softly as the soft fur stroked not only the inside of his thighs, but the back of hers as well.

Vegeta shuddered at the feel of her tail moving against his skin, cursing softly as his body started to respond. He dug his nails into his palms, but the sting of pain only made things worse, reminding him of the times when Bulma had taken advantage of the fact that he had quite a masochistic streak when it came to sex.

A memory arose unbidden, flooding his mind with images of Bulma holding a scalpel and wearing nothing but a lab coat while he was naked and restrained to a table. Those thoughts were not helping him any, especially not the memory of his blue-haired mate drawing the edge of that scalpel along the inside of his thighs, just hard enough to draw blood.

Kiddae grinned excitedly as she felt the prince come to life underneath her. _This_ was what she wanted. _This_ was what she needed - the feel of strong, warm flesh pressed against her own, the smell of sweat on skin, and sweat on grass and earth. She moaned again and rocked back and forth on him, the tip of her tail probing the tender areas around his inner thighs and genitals. She could feel herself warming up between her own legs and rubbed against Vegeta to increase the sensation.

"Get off of me," he managed to gasp out, pushing weakly at her. He cursed his body for betraying him. He didn't want to breed with her. Bulma was his mate, and he would _not_ betray her.

He struggled in Kiddae's grasp, not noticing as his tail flailed wildly and uselessly by his side. Unfortunately, the female Saiyan did notice it. She ruthlessly took advantage of it, using the sensitive appendage to control his body with waves of pleasure and pain.

He cursed and snarled as she used his body for her own pleasure, but to no avail. _Bulma, I'm so sorry…, _he thought as he neared the end, biting his lip to keep from crying out.

Enraged by his silence, she moved with blinding speed fueled by fury and struck without thinking. In only seconds, her fingers plunged into his left eye socket. They closed around the delicate orb and tore it from his face, trailing snapped nerves and streams of blood. She raked her fingernails down the middle of his cheek as she withdrew her hand.

Finally, Vegeta gave her the sound she wanted. He arched his head back, trying to get away from the pain, and screamed, a sound of pure agony that sent shivers of sweet delight down her spine. Then he went limp beneath her as his consciousness retreated from the abuse to his body.

Kiddae smiled at the delicious sound of his pain. She licked the newly plucked eye delicately, then popped the entire thing into her mouth and bit down. It tasted as wonderful as his screams had sounded.

She gazed down at him and mused about what to do with him as she chewed and swallowed the last of his eye. Perhaps she would ask the Keepers if she could keep him as a plaything until she tired of him. She certainly wanted to try to get more out of this Saiyan.

…

Gohan and Bra were idly sitting around in their prison, completely unaware of the day's events, when Vegeta's battered and bandaged form was carried into the room by one of the Keepers. A second came in as well, standing guard at the door as the first gently set Vegeta down on one of the beds.

His right cheek had already started to swell and bruise where he'd been slapped, and the left side of his face was heavily bandaged, bits of red showing through the white material. He was dressed only from the waist down, more white cloth wrapped around his torso to stop the bleeding from the rents in his sides.

Gohan stared in horror at all of the crimson-stained white cloth, horrified at the thought of the concealed injuries. He had seen worse in his life, had experienced worse, but the sheer violence of what he was able to see disturbed him.

For a moment, Gohan remembered the tortures the Keepers had put him through and wondered if they had gone against their word and had put Vegeta through something similar. But no, they had healed Gohan of his injuries, some so dreadful he would probably have died otherwise. So why hadn't they done the same for Vegeta?

A deep, subconscious part of him realized that the kinds of tortures he had experienced had been very methodical, very scientific in a twisted sort of way. Certainly, none of the technicians had slapped him, no matter how hard he had tried to fight. So what had happened to Vegeta?

"What did you do to him?" Gohan snarled, suddenly furious at the deliberate torture of the older man. "Why didn't you heal him like you did me? Or do you just enjoy causing pain and suffering for no purpose?"

Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed the Keeper who had placed Vegeta on the bed by the throat, lifting him several inches off the ground. He ignored the painful tingling in his collar. His ki might be suppressed, but he was still a Saiyan, and Saiyans were physically stronger than most other races.

The Keeper at the door frowned and pressed a button on a strange device attached to his belt, sending a jolt of electricity through Gohan so intense that the half-breed dropped the other Keeper and fell to his knees in agony.

"We do not heal injuries caused by what we assume to be natural behavior," the Keeper by the door said calmly. The translation devices had gradually gotten better, able to turn the Keeper's clicks and whistles into sentences that flowed better and made more sense. "We have done what we could to make sure he will likely not bleed to death, nor become sick with infection." Then the two of them left, seeming not at all disturbed by Vegeta's injuries or Gohan's behavior.

Bra stared after them for a few seconds before rushing to her father, very worried about him. She was worried about Gohan as well, but he didn't seem to be too badly hurt, just very, very angry. She very gently snuggled close to Vegeta, careful not to touch any of his wounds. She was scared and upset, but she forced herself to be calm, reminding herself that she was a Saiyan princess, and Saiyan princesses did not let fear rule them.

Gohan was so furious that he almost couldn't see. What did they mean, natural behavior? _Whose_ natural behavior? Certainly not theirs! He and Bra hadn't even been around Vegeta when he had been hurt, and he doubted that Vegeta had done it to himself.

It was several minutes before he felt he could trust himself to be calm around Vegeta. He didn't trust his telepathy at the moment; he suspected he was too angry to focus it properly, and he might inadvertently do damage to Vegeta's psyche as well. Part of him regretted that he hadn't tried using it against their captors; if he had mentally damaged one of _them_, he wouldn't have felt guilty at all.

He crouched down next to the bed Vegeta had been lain on. "Vegeta," he said roughly. "Who did this to you? I swear to Kami, I'm going to rip every single one of them apart for doing this to you and for everything else they have planned for us."

Instead of answering, Vegeta slowly curled into a ball, pulling his legs, arms, and tail in close to his body, as if trying to protect himself from both Gohan and Bra.

"Daddy?" Bra whispered as he moved away from her. She reached out for him, but before she could touch him, the door opened again, a young Keeper that was familiar to her entering their room.

The Keeper was clutching a bundle of primitive medical supplies, managing to look both miserable and outraged at the same time. "I have brought things to help with his wounds. I would bring things to heal him completely, but it is not allowed," he said, seeming genuinely upset by it. He turned his gaze to Bra. "Come with me, please, little one."

She frowned and shook her head. "No. Daddy needs me."

"You must come with me, Bra," the Keeper said, sounding almost desperate. "Your father was badly hurt. He is a strong man, yes? Sometimes those who are strong do not like for those they care for to see them when they suffer. Please, little on, come with me."

He glanced over at Gohan, a look of pleading in his eyes, as if asking Gohan to help him get the little girl out of the room.

Gohan's narrowed, as if trying to determine what this alien had in mind. Was he taking Bra away for torture as well? If so, why didn't he just force Bra to go with him? He slowly stood up, glaring at the Keeper.

"You're not taking her anywhere," he hissed. He was unaware that his eyes were practically glowing red with anger. "I'll rip you apart with my bare hands and damn the pain it causes if you so much as lay a finger on her."

Bra bit her lip, looking from Gohan to the Keeper. She didn't want to leave her father, but she also didn't want Gohan to hurt this alien. He was her friend.

"Why do you want me to go with you, Dynin?" she asked softly, hoping that the fact that she wasn't scared of him would get through to Gohan.

"It… it will be best for you, and for your father, if you come with me for a bit, little one. Things happened that I can't talk about in front of you. He might need to talk though, and I don't think he can do that with you here. Please, please come with me."

"I… I don't want to leave him," Bra whispered, very confused and unsure of what to do. She knew that the Keepers were not good people, but Dynin was different. He wasn't much older than her brother and was on the ship to do a study on child development for alien species. He played games with her and told her stories. He wasn't evil.

"You heard the lady," Gohan growled. His fury hadn't abated in the slightest. "She wants to stay here. As long as she wants to stay, she's going to stay. Give me one good reason I shouldn't rip your head off, and maybe I'll let you live."

The Keeper, Dynin, took a deep breath before speaking again. "I have a reason, but I won't say it in front of her or him. Will you go into the bathroom with me, and promise not to harm me until I have finished what I have to say? Also keep in mind that I am the main Keeper in charge of Bra. I like children, and will never harm her. Some of the others on this ship are not as caring as I am. They would wish to study more than just how well she does at games."

Gohan stared at him suspiciously for a long moment before nodding once. He followed the alien into the bathroom and waited with his arms crossed over his chest, preparing to kill the Keeper if he so much as sneezed wrong.

"This is my first ever mission as a Keeper, and I am not happy with what happened today," Dynin began quietly. "Everything has been handled wrong from the beginning. The High Keepers who had Kiddae created listened to all of the rumors that Saiyans were nothing but selfish, vicious, and bloodthirsty. Kiddae was brought up to be that way. She's fertile right now, so Bra's father was taken to her.

"Kiddae is the one who did all of that to him, mostly to amuse herself. She ripped out his eye and ate it just because he wouldn't willingly mate with her. Vegeta is the type of person who needs to seem strong and in control of himself. I don't think it's good for him for Bra to see him like this. Please, let me take her away from here."

He held out the bundle of cloth and topical medication like some sort of peace offering, waiting for Gohan to pass judgment on his words.

Gohan stared at him, ignoring for the moment the items in his hands. "She tore out his eye? And ate it?" He felt his fury rising again. "And this is considered _normal_? What sort of animals do you think we are? Do you really think Saiyans would do this to each other as a natural part of mating? Don't you realize our race would have died out eons ago if we had been so needlessly cruel to each other?"

Dynin flinched away from his anger, frightened. Saiyans were a predatory species and the Keepers were herbivores. It was hard to rein in his fear. "I had nothing to do with this. I am just a student, on my first field work mission," he whispered. "I don't think it's normal, but no listens to me. I'm little more than a child myself, still a member of my mother's herd instead of living in a group with other young stallions. Please, accept what I have brought and let me take Bra away from here."

Gohan continued to breathe heavily for several minutes, still enraged enough to want to rip someone apart. The fact that Dynin was the only being within range made him the most obvious target. Gohan's naturally gentle nature, however, asserted itself. He couldn't kill someone who was innocent of any wrongdoing, no matter how angry he might be.

He took the medicines, still glaring at the alien. "I will let her go with on one condition," he said, his voice soft and deadly.

Dynin swallowed hard. "What is the condition?"

"You will do anything in your power to help us escape."

The young Keeper hesitated a moment. "I will do what I can. It will not be much though. And you might want to wait a bit before attempting escape. The others believe Kiddae to be pregnant. Do you really want to leave a helpless infant here, to be raised by that thing we created?"

Gohan's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure he should care about something that hadn't been born yet, but instinctively he did. He couldn't leave a baby in the clutches of the creature who had hurt Vegeta so badly.

He turned and left the bathroom, walking over to Bra and crouching beside her. "Bra, I want you to think very carefully now. Do you trust this alien? Do you truly believe he won't harm you?" He also spoke to her mentally. '_Coeya, if you have any doubts, let me know, and I won't let him take you away. I will fight for you, no matter what it costs. Just say the word.'_

Bra gazed up at him, considering his words, both those spoken and those thought. "I trust him. He's about the same age as Trunks, and he just plays games with me, even though I've heard other Keepers talk about how he should be doing other things to study me. He hasn't hurt me at all. Do you want me to go with him, Gohan? I will, if you think that's what Daddy would want."

"Bra, I want to know what _you_ want. I don't know what your father would want. What I want is…." He didn't want to say it, but what he wanted was for her to stay. And he had the feeling that that wasn't the best thing for her. '_Coeya, you have to make this decision yourself. I know you want to take care of your father, but do you think he wants you to see him like this?'_

As much as it pained him to think it, he thought it would be best for her to be away from them. They wouldn't be able to protect her, but then, he was beginning to suspect that their presence was actually a danger to her. It was drawing the attention of these aliens toward her, and he didn't think that was a good thing.

_'Coeya… I will protect Vegeta with my life. I promise. And I will protect you as well. It's just that right now I can't really protect both of you together, not with him so badly hurt. So maybe it's best if you go with this alien if you truly believe you can trust him. But if you do not… then do not go with him. I don't want to send you into danger.'_

Bra carefully considered her options, then leaned toward Gohan, lightly kissing him on the cheek. Then she moved away from him and headed toward the Keeper. "I'll go with you, Dynin."

He nodded, relieved, and gently took her hand. The young girl looked sadly back over her shoulder as she was led from the room.

_Vegeta is going to kill me if anything happens to her,_ he thought woefully after Bra was gone. He hoped she would be all right. He had grown rather fond of the spunky little girl.

He walked over to Vegeta, kneeling on the floor next to the bed. The older Saiyan was still curled up in the fetal position, which Gohan recognized as a sign of withdrawal from the world.

'_Ackay ayanni,'_ he spoke directly into Vegeta's mind, '_I swear to Kami that I will avenge you. I will tear Kiddae's heart out of her chest with my bare hands and then hand it to you to feast on.'_ He had no idea, but he was instinctively swearing an ancient Saiyan oath given from soldiers to their liege-lords, an oath that had not been uttered since the moment their home world had been destroyed.

Those words flashed through the Saiyan prince's mind, pulling him a little from the protective cocoon of darkness he had instinctively woven around his thoughts. An odd, soft keening noise escaped him before he flipped over and purposefully rolled off of the bed, moving faster than Gohan would have thought possible, considering all of his injuries.

He gave a muffled grunt of pain as he got to his hands and knees, ruthlessly ruffling through Gohan's mind to figure out his exact location. Then he began to slowly crawl toward the bathroom, managing to avoid hitting anything until he got inside.

He bit off a scream as he hit his head against the large bathtub, pain flashing through the left side of his face, most of it centered on where his eye had once been. He curled up on the floor, forcing himself to take deep, steady breaths. He wasn't really aware of much. Just that Gohan had said something important, and that he desperately needed to get clean.

He could smell _her_ on his skin. Her scent was all over him, marking him as hers. He had to get it off. He grabbed the edge of the tub, pulling himself up and grabbing at the faucets. He felt for the one with the raised symbol that meant hot to the Keepers and turned it, pushing the button that would keep the water from flowing out. Then he forced himself into the tub, half falling into the shallow pool of scalding water. He huddled near the back of the bath, letting the hot water burn his skin and begin to cleanse him of the scent and feel of _her_. It would burn her away from him, maybe leaving him clean.

Concerned, Gohan started to follow Vegeta, but turned away when the injured man went into the bathroom. He felt embarrassed that Vegeta hadn't shut the door, but turned back in surprise when he heard the sounds of the bathtub running. He watched as Vegeta crawled into the bathtub, still wearing the partial clothing he had been brought back into the room in.

Gohan hurried over to him and was shocked when his hand encountered the scalding water. _He's going to hurt himself even more this way!_ he thought in alarm. He quickly spun the cold-water knob all the way on, cooling the water slightly. It was still very hot, but no longer dangerously so as the tub filled.

"Vegeta?" Gohan questioned uncertainly. "Are you all right?" He didn't like how pale Vegeta was or the blank expression on his face.

Vegeta hugged himself, shivering at the addition of the cooler water. He was cold. So very cold. And the water wasn't washing away her scent. He remembered Bra telling him about all of the various types of soap, bubble bath, and bath oils she had set out on the back edge of the tub.

He got to his knees and felt around on the back edge, finally encountering several bottles and bars of scented soap. He pushed the bars into the water, cursing softly to himself as he tried to get some of the bottles open and poured into the rapidly filling tub. He was vaguely aware that Gohan had been speaking to him, but he didn't really care just yet. He just wanted to be warm and clean.

Gohan continued to watch Vegeta in concern. Part of him felt like he was intruding, but at the same time, he was too worried about Vegeta to leave him alone. The Saiyan prince had, at some point, managed to wiggle out of the pants he had been wearing, making Gohan even more uncomfortable. Nudity wasn't something he had a strong taboo over, but both his mother and Videl had enforced on him constantly that there were some things that should be private.

When he noticed Vegeta struggling with Bra's soaps, he reached over and loosened the caps of several of them. He watched worriedly as Vegeta poured the contents into the bathwater, wondering what was going on in the other Saiyan's head.

Vegeta sank back into the soapy water, finally starting to feel warm as the various bath products began to erase Kiddae's scent. He ignored the sharp sting as the soap soaked into the bandages around his torso, getting into the deep, savage furrows left by the female Saiyan.

It was fading, but he could still smell her. Could still feel the touch of her skin. He slid down farther into the water, letting it cover him completely. The hot soapy water hurt as it got into the ruined socket of his left eye, but he ignored it.

He also ignored the blood slowly rising from the wounds on his face and sides, and the tight feeling in his chest as his lungs began to run out of air.

When Vegeta began to slide under the water, Gohan wasn't worried at first; he assumed the Saiyan was getting his head wet with the idea of washing his hair. When Vegeta failed to lift his head after about a minute, however, Gohan became alarmed.

"Vegeta!" he cried out, reaching into the tub and lifting the older man forcibly out. "What are you trying to do? Drown yourself?"

The older man jerked and twisted, trying to get free of Gohan's grasp. Scattered memories flashed through his mind, being accidentally sent to Gohan. Both of them were flooded with a sick array of horrifying images, some of a tyrant with an unnatural fondness for children and some of a woman who only cared about herself.

Vegeta finally bit Gohan's arm, using that momentary distraction to get away from him, the barrage of images fading away with the loss of physical contact. He crouched in the corner of the tub, hissing like some kind of large, angry feline as fresh blood dripped down the left side of his face from the waterlogged bandages. His soft brown tail was sticking up out of the water, the wet fur fluffed out.

Gohan was too shocked by the images sent to him to fight back when Vegeta pulled away. He stared at him, trying to make sense of it. He finally realized his words weren't getting through; he was going to have to use telepathy.

_Vegeta_, Gohan sent to him, trying to make his thoughts as reassuring as possible. '_That's not me. This is Gohan. Remember? Gohan. "Kakarot's" spawn? You're my….'_ He paused a moment and then, in surprise, realized there was only one word that was true. '_You're my friend. I swear I'm going to hurt the ones who did this to you. You have to come back, Vegeta. I need you to come back. That's the only way we're going to get out of here and escape this nightmare.'_

Awareness slowly seeped back into Vegeta as he stepped back into the icy emotional armor he had long ago set aside, but had never allowed to melt. Blessed coldness filled him, numbing his feelings. The ice inside of him became so cold that it would burn anyone who tried to get to him, mimicking the deadly heat of a fire. Vegeta smiled grimly as a memory surfaced.

_"Such a delightful mix of fire and ice," Frieza purred, using one finger to gently stroke the cheek of the naked fourteen-year-old in bed with him. "You go so cold and uncaring, but you burn so brightly when you unleash the fire of your anger. My sweet little prince of fire and ice."_

"Vegeta?" Gohan asked uncertainly. He didn't like the expression on the other man's face.

"They have made their last mistake," he answered malevolently. "They have awoken the Prince of Fire and Ice. And now they will have to deal with him."


	6. Chapter 6

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Six 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

Trunks stood in his sister's room, looking at all of her things. He picked up one of her favorite stuffed animals and sat on her bed. The toy was a fluffy white tiger that their father had given her for her last birthday. He gently caressed its fake fur, thinking of his baby sister.

The adult version of her was gone, along with the other four from the future, leaving a plethora of worries and unanswered questions in their wake. He gazed at the stuffed toy in his hands, wondering how different the toy's owner would be when she finally returned.

He glanced up when he heard a noise, smiling slightly in greeting at the person in the doorway. "Hi, Mom."

Bulma stared at her teenage son, blinking back tears. When she had heard sounds from Bra's bedroom, her heart had almost stopped. She had run up the stairs three at a time, hoping against hope…

…only to see her son there, looking at his sister's toys.

"Oh, Trunks," she cried out, rushing over to hold him. She had known that he was as lonely as she for their missing loved ones, but it hadn't really penetrated her own grief before now. "I miss her so much." She gently pushed him back slightly, brushing a strand of hair from his cheek. "It hurts so much, doesn't it? Oh, Kami, I miss them!"

"Yeah," Trunks said softly, his voice thick with unshed tears. "I wish we could go after them…. I wish I knew if it was the aliens or the Shades that did all of that to Dad…."

He trailed off, shuddering slightly. He had seen the scars leading down from his father's eye. Something powerful had ripped it out. And he had never wished it back.

Bulma looked sad as well, tears starting to flow from her eyes. "He was so hurt," she said softly. "I wonder… I wonder what did that to him." She shuddered. "Those aliens – surely they didn't want to _torture_ him, did they? They said that wanted to… to breed him."

Her eyes closed and her teeth clenched at the thought. She had no idea how they were going to try to force the issue, but a tiny part of her wondered if they would have to. They had said they had a Saiyan female, after all. Maybe he preferred that to her? _No!_ she thought adamantly to herself. _He wouldn't betray me. I know he wouldn't._

"He wouldn't breed with what they created willingly," Trunks murmured. Then a stricken look crossed his face, his hands unconsciously convulsing around his sister's stuffed toy. "What if… What if they threaten to hurt Bra? He loves you, Mama, but he'd do it if they were going to hurt or kill Bra."

Bulma's eyes widened and her face paled for a moment before she regained her composure, her expression and even her emotions growing calm. "Then he would do what he has to in order to protect her. He wouldn't let her be hurt – you know how protective he is of her. Gohan will protect her as well. They will do whatever it takes to keep her safe."

She brushed her hand against his cheek again, giving him a small, sad smile. "We know all three of them will return in a year. Your father is badly hurt, but at least we know he's alive. I just wish…" A tear trickled down her cheek. "I just wish we could spare him the pain."

"And we know he still loves you, Mama. I saw him kiss you. He wouldn't have kissed you like that if he didn't love you," he said softly. "All we can really do when he gets home is to be here for him. He won't talk about what he went through - he just isn't like that - but it might comfort him just to be home with us."

"Yes…." She threw her arms around his neck, weeping openly. "I want him back, Trunks! I don't want him to suffer any more than he already has. He's been hurt so much his whole life. I would do anything to spare him more pain."

Tears sprang to Trunks' eyes as well as he shuddered slightly. "I heard some of it," he said, his voice harsh with sorrow. "I didn't mean to, but I overheard just a little bit of it when you finally got Dad to tell you about his past…. I don't like him much, but I'm glad it was a version of me who killed that sick bastard."

Bulma didn't move away from Trunks, and other than heavy sobs, was silent for several minutes. "Vegeta hated Frieza," she finally said, her voice muffled against her son's shoulder. "I remember the horror on his face when he saw Frieza alive and on Earth. He was…. Oh, Trunks, he would never admit it, but he was terrified! I think…. I think that other version of you must have known a bit of it too. He… he toyed with Frieza before he killed him. Vegeta doesn't deserve any more pain in his life. We have to… We have to help him, when he gets back."

…

Goten stared at the huge stack of pancakes in front of him while his mother stirred up batter for more. He wondered desperately if he could get away with feeding them to the dragon that had lurked around their house since Gohan was little.

He glanced over at his father and the equally huge stack of pancakes in front of him. They had both humored Chi-Chi's odd cooking obsession for the past month, but he didn't think he could take any more. Though his father seemed to be relishing the massive amounts of food.

"Hey, these are really good, Chi!" Goku exclaimed. It wasn't as though everything she cooked wasn't great to him, but he always strived to compliment her about it anyway. "Hey, Goten, if you're not going to eat yours, can I have them?" Despite the huge amount on his own plate, Goku couldn't help eyeing Goten's hungrily, especially since his son didn't seem as enthusiastic about the fourth helping as he was.

Goten wordlessly passed his plate over, his eyes wide. As always, he was impressed with the full-blooded Saiyan's ability to eat. He shuddered slightly, thinking of what could happen to someone unfortunate enough to end up between a hungry Goku and food. His mind conjured up the bizarre mental image of the legs of some poor soul sticking out of Goku's mouth, kicking in a vain attempt to free themselves and their owner.

Despite Goku's enjoyment of the meal, he _was_ getting a bit full, and he was smart enough to realize that Goten wasn't anxious to eat more. Inhaling the pancakes faster than Chi-Chi could whip up the next batch, he patted his stomach and burped loudly.

"Wow, that was great!" he declared in satisfaction. Then he stood up quickly, looking over at his son. "Come on, Goten. I want to show you this great fishing spot I found. We'll be back this afternoon, Chi." In the past, he wouldn't have bothered to give her even a vague time to expect them back, but he was working on being more considerate and reliable.

Chi-Chi had just begun to turn around when the two Saiyans bolted out the door, using their super speed. She put her hands on her hips, looking disgruntled. "Well, he could have at least offered to help me clean up!" she complained irritably, though she was pleased he had remembered to let her know about when to expect them back. "And they didn't take a lunch with them. They'll go hungry. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make sure there's plenty for them to eat at dinner."

…

"Thanks, Dad," Goten said, his gratitude evident in his voice. "I guess someone with human blood just can't eat as much as a full Saiyan. I know cooking is Mom's way of coping with Gohan being missing, but couldn't she just take up knitting or something to keep her mind off of it?"

_Or maybe not,_ he thought, his overactive imagination forming images of the house overrun with knitted shirts and scarves while he and his father waddled around, swaddled in several layers of knitted clothing.

Goku smiled as he gazed into the river. He really did want to do some fishing, although his haste had been only to rescue his son. He wouldn't have minded eating a bit more, but he knew Goten had been starting to feel sick from it.

"That's just the way she is, son. You can't really change someone's nature, not short of a wish, like Vegeta did to me. Even that would be limited. All he did was return something that I should have had naturally, not add something that shouldn't be there."

He looked at his son with sympathetic understanding. "We all have our ways of coping. Chi-Chi cooks, Trunks trains, and Bulma works in her lab. You and me… well, we don't necessarily need to cope the same way. We're both used to danger, to fighting, but they're not. At least, Bulma and Chi-Chi aren't. They fight, but not the same way."

He sat down on a large rock, the tip of his tail dipping lazily into the water. "What you have to understand, Goten, is that when we go out and fight, they have to stay home and wait for us. They are both very brave and very strong in their own way, but when the fighting starts, they're forced to sit back and wait. It isn't really in their natures – they both want to be in the middle of the action – but it's too dangerous to them and they know it. It's especially hard for your mother. She _is_ a fighter, she's just not in our league, so although she may want to join us and fight as well, she can't. Instead, she has to watch while her husband and children go off and fight, knowing that there's always a chance that one of us won't come back."

"There's something I've always wondered about. Why did Mom try so hard to keep Gohan from becoming a fighter, and then train me?" It was something that had always puzzled Goten, but he'd never felt comfortable asking. He still wasn't used to his newly intelligent father, but sometimes he felt closer to him the way he was now.

"Well…." Goku was thoughtful for a moment before he continued. "I think she thought she was doing Gohan a favor when she refused to let him train. I get the feeling that even though she's a fighter, she never really chose it. That path was chosen for her, and she never cared for it. She probably thought the same was true for me, and she didn't want it to be true for Gohan. So instead of letting me train him – and forcing him into a life she thought he would hate – she made him study to be a scholar, something she had once dreamed of being."

He looked curiously at Goten. "Did you ever feel that she didn't care about you as much because she wasn't as overprotective of you? Because I don't think that's the case at all. She's given you more freedom because it was only when Gohan was older that she finally realized how much it was hurting him when she held him back. He _wants_ to fight, as do I, and it was only right before you were born that she finally realized it. It's our choice to fight. It's what we do best, because we love it, not because we have to do it."

"I can understand that, I think," Goten said, looking thoughtful. Some things been hard for him when he was growing up. He had never understood why his mother had seemed so much more protective of his older brother, and he had missed having a father. Gohan had been great, but he hadn't been a father figure, not really.

He had ended up hero-worshipping Vegeta, just like Trunks, and had spent many hours in the gravity room with the two of them, watching Vegeta train. The Saiyan prince had never directly taught them, but Goten had noticed that he would often repeat a move at a slower pace if either of them copied it wrong.

_He was my surrogate father for a long time, _he thought to himself. _I'm as upset about him being missing as I am about Gohan and Bra, but Trunks is the only one I can really tell about that. Bulma doesn't need to hear someone whining about missing her husband, I'm not sure what Mom would think of it, and I don't want to hurt Dad's feelings._

"I want them home," he murmured.

"So do I, Goten. So do I," Goku said softly, putting an arm around the young man's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do but wait, which is one of the hardest things to do." He smiled slightly. "And while we wait, at least for today, let's catch some fish, then clean it, and take it back to Chi-Chi to make for supper. Wouldn't some nice fine fish be just the thing to have tonight?"

Goten laughed, glad that even with his new intelligence, his father was still the same in so many ways. Then the two of them dove into the water, determined to tickle up some nice, big fish for their dinner.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: ****The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Seven 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

Dynin trotted nervously through the halls, rubbing at the fabric of his pocket as he made his way to the control center. He got there just as Lanassa was entering her latest data on Gohan.

"Good evening, Dynin," she chirped pleasantly.

"Good evening, Lana," he responded, beginning to enter in his own data on Bra. "How have your studies been going?"

"Much better these past several months. I keep meaning to thank you. The half Saiyan has been so much more tractable ever since you won his trust. I normally don't approve of lying, but what you did was a stroke of genius."

Dynin smiled. "It was so hard to get Gohan to believe me that I didn't think it would work at first."

"You're the youngest researcher on board, but we do appreciate your fresh, clever ideas. Have a pleasant rest time, youngling."

With that, the older scientist beamed a smile at him and left the control room. Once he was sure she was gone and not coming back for anything, he pulled a small disk from his pocket and inserted it into the computer.

By the time he was finished inputting his new data on Bra, the disk was finished with its task. According to the computers, the suppressant collars were still working at full capacity. In reality, the Saiyans could now access ten percent of their ki.

That would be more than enough for them to overpower the Keepers and make their escape, when the time was right.

…

Bra was humming softly to herself and working on a puzzle involving light and prisms when Dynin's program went into effect. The young Keeper had left her alone in an observation room, planning to take her back to the newly finished Saiyan habitat once he was finished in the control room.

The point of the puzzle he had left with her was to use crystalline blocks with different facets and color patterns to create a specific set of colors and intensities of light. She finished the puzzle just as a small amount of power filled her.

A startled blink was her only reaction at first as she tried to decide if she was imagining things. Then she held out her hand, palm up, and concentrated, creating a small blue ball of ki.

She stared at the ball of energy and then at the light puzzle, an idea forming. Light was a form of energy. If different colors of light could have different strengths and intensities, could different colors of ki have them as well?

The little girl shifted her attention back to the ki ball, her small face scrunching up in concentration. Sweat began to bead her brow as the ball separated into smaller, irregular shapes of energy, each one slowly becoming a different color.

Eventually, she held a constantly shifting, dazzling array of colors, the sparkling mass lighting up her triumphant smile.

…

Vegeta shuffled along between his two guards, his shoulders slumped and his head tilted down. Anyone looking at him would have been justified in thinking that they saw a defeated, worn-out man. His guards pitied him more than anything and considered their main job to be to make sure he didn't get lost or hurt, not to keep him from trying anything destructive.

The fact that he was naked added to his seeming vulnerability. Kiddae was much too far along to be interested in forcing herself on him anymore, but she still enjoyed tormenting him, and the forced nudity was part of it.

A trickle of power suddenly flared through the Saiyan prince, startling him. He turned his inadvertent reaction into a stumble.

"Careful," a floating ball translated for the guard on his right. "We're almost to Kiddae's habitat. You don't want to go in there injured."

"If you insist on putting me in there with that woman, you could at least restore the sight in the one eye I have left," Vegeta said quietly, careful to keep his voice soft and dull, but completely free of whining. Whining would just annoy them. The best plan was to have their sympathy and their pity, not their contempt.

"I wish we could, but the captain and the scientists in charge of you all agree that it should wait until after Kiddae successfully gives birth. Here we are now."

The guard on his left opened the electronic door, and Vegeta was gently pushed into the room. The door softly whooshed shut, locking him in with Kiddae and the other animals in the habitat.

He whistled sharply, calling for the two creatures that had distracted him on his first forced visit. They came to him, one roughly house-cat sized furry dragon perching on each shoulder. He stroked their heads and moved confidently forward, a slow, bloodthirsty smirk crossing his face.

He would continue to play the game for now, but once the time was right, they would pay. They would all pay.

…

Gohan lay on his bed, every nerve in his body numb from the repeated shocks and pain. He almost wished the rest of him hurt as much, that he had some physical injuries to go along with the pain, so he would have some proof of what he experienced every day. But the creatures that held them captive were determined; all damage done to him during their tests would be healed before he was returned to their habitat, since those injuries were not 'natural'.

He had argued that Vegeta's blindness was no more natural, but they remained adamant; they wouldn't heal Vegeta's blindness until Kiddae had a healthy baby. They felt that if he could see, he would have a better chance of escaping her, cutting down on the chance that Kiddae could be impregnated again without resorting to artificial insemination.

Things had changed greatly as the months had passed. They had been moved to a large forested area like Kiddae's, and Gohan no longer had difficulty in saying one thing out loud while telepathically communicating something else.

He also found himself thinking in Saiyasi almost as often as in his native language. Lately, all of their telepathy had been almost exclusively in Saiyasi, except on the rare occasions when something could be explained better in the other language. It was minor rebellion against their captors that made the three of them feel far less dispirited then they otherwise might have.

Gohan was just beginning to debate whether he ought to catch dinner for the evening when there was a sudden strange tingle in his collar. He sat up abruptly, expecting the sharp pain that came from it every time the Keepers felt that he was being disobedient. A few minutes passed, however, and nothing further happened, except that he could feel ki surging through his body for the first time in almost a year. For a moment, he was tempted to make a ki ball and blast something near him, but that impulse passed instantly. Whatever had happened to cause this, alerting the Keepers would be the wrong thing to do.

He would wait until Vegeta came back, and they would decide together. If he had access to some of his ki, maybe Vegeta did as well. He knew better than to distract Vegeta when he was with Kiddae. His prince needed all of his alertness focused on the female Saiyan, or she would be able to torment him even more than usual.

Gohan would trust Vegeta and follow his lead. They would just have to wait until the time was right to make their escape.

No longer mindful of the pain singing through his nerves from his daily ordeal, Gohan smiled as he left their clearing to hunt their evening meal.


	8. Chapter 8

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: ****The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Eight 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Author's Note:** When you read this chapter, you may sit there and wonder if you've missed something. You haven't. But don't worry, what happened between chapters will be revealed in chapter nine.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

Goku woke up with a start, leaping out of bed before he even realized what had alerted him. It only took a moment to recognize the energy signatures that had materialized in his bedroom.

"Gohan?" he blurted out, shocked by this sudden turn of events.

"It's me, Dad," came a weary voice. Then a small ball of light ignited, Gohan holding it up with one hand so they could see each other.

Goku stared in shock at his oldest son, noting instantly the maturity that had etched itself into his face over the past year. There was a hardness to his son that had never been there before. Gone was the almost boyish innocence that Gohan had maintained even throughout his marriage.

He also noticed that both his son and the man who had always viewed him as a rival were injured. Gohan had a wound along his face that ran over his eye, similar to the scar Yamcha sported, while Vegeta was so drenched in blood that it was hard to tell just where he had been hurt. He already bore the eye patch and claw marks that his future self had possessed, and he held a swaddled infant.

"You need some senzu," he said immediately, talking to both of them. "I don't have any in the house, but I can get some from Korin's tomorrow for you. Are you…." He hesitated a moment, looking from one to the other. "You're going home, right? Or do you want to stay here?"

"Goku?" a sleepy voice murmured from the bed. "Who are you talking to?"

"Chi-Chi," Goku said, still wondering what his son was going to do, "it's Gohan. He's home."

"Gohan?" Chi-Chi was awake instantly, leaping out of bed and staring around. She saw Gohan and ran towards him, engulfing him in a hug. "My baby! You're hurt! You've been fighting, haven't you?"

"Of course he's been fighting, Chi-Chi," Goku said gently, prying her away from their son. "How else would he have escaped?"

Goku made his way to the wall and flipped on the light switch, flooding the room with bright light. Gohan extinguished his ki ball in relief. He was tired, and trying to maintain that light – normally something ridiculously easy for him – was draining to him at the moment.

Gohan was utterly exhausted, as was the little girl clutching his free hand. Goku thought she looked like she wanted to either cry or faint, but couldn't decide which. He said nothing about it, but wondered what exactly the three of them had gone through.

"Would either of you like to stay here?" Goku asked quietly. "Or do you need a lift home?"

Gohan shook his head in response, but Vegeta hesitated a moment. Then he glanced at Bra and made up his mind. "I need to get her home. She needs to sleep in her own bed again."

Goku nodded, but it was Chi-Chi who replied at that point. She had also noticed the little girl's exhaustion. "She's practically asleep on her feet," she noted critically. "She's not going to make it if you don't get there soon."

She crouched down in front of the girl so she was slightly below eye level to her. "Are you all right, honey? Do you need anything before you get home?" It was then that she finally noticed the blood on the girl's clothing, and her eyes widened, her maternal instincts going into overdrive. "Are you hurt?" She gently took Bra's free arm to turn her and examine her for injuries, hoping the blood wasn't hers.

Bra blinked owlishly. "I'm not hurt," she said, her voice slurred from exhaustion. "Daddy and Gohan kept me safe."

"She just needs to get some rest and get clean," Vegeta said, curling his tail around the little girl.

Chi-Chi released Bra's arm with a nod, then looked back at Vegeta. "You may need to carry her though. Let me get you something to put that little one in." Without waiting for an answer, she bustled from the room, leaving the others staring after her in surprise.

Goku shrugged with a sheepish smile after his wife left, looking almost like his old, innocent self. Then his smile faded as he studied them. "She's been lonely a lot lately," he said apologetically. "Goten got a job as a graphic artist at Capsule Corp., so he isn't around much anymore. And since I've been going to school now, she's alone a lot more than she used to be."

"You're going to school?" Gohan asked in surprise. His father had never seemed the least bit interested in learning anything other than basic reading and arithmetic, unless it involved fighting.

"Yeah," Goku replied with an embarrassed grin. "I read all of your old schoolbooks, but then I found that I wanted to know more. So I applied at the university, they tested me, and then let me into the freshmen class there. I've been going there for the past six months now."

He turned to Vegeta, looking at him seriously. "I almost hated you at first for your wish, but now I want to thank you. I know I can protect my family and friends better than I could before…. I'm not going to just let things happen anymore. I'm going to be proactive, and try to protect them before things happen. I want you to know that I'm grateful for what you did for me."

Vegeta nodded once. "The mind is a muscle as well, Kakarot. Our people have always been well aware of that fact, though most races who know of Saiyans tend to think we are stupid brutes who would kill even our own without a care. Keep your brain as fit as your body, and it will serve you well."

Goku didn't have a chance to reply, as Chi-Chi came back at that moment, carrying something that looked like a strange mixture of leather straps and heavy cloth. She handed it to Gohan, then took the baby from Vegeta and handed it to Goku, taking full charge of the situation.

She took the device back from Gohan, then pulled it apart in her hands, showing them a cloth sling with several leather straps. "This can be fastened to you so that the baby can be strapped either to your front or your back. The back would probably be a better idea for now, so that you can carry Bra as well."

Vegeta stared at the odd contraption, trying unsuccessfully to figure it out. His tired mind refused to make any connections.

"Turn around," Chi-Chi ordered, noticing his confusion. He silently obeyed, wincing as the straps aggravated the injuries on his back and left shoulder.

"I'll get some senzu from Korin tomorrow," Goku promised as he slipped the infant into the sling and fastened her securely.

Vegeta nodded his thanks, then bent with a slight of grunt of pain to scoop up Bra. The little girl had been swaying on her feet, and she fell asleep the instant he had her in his arms.

He glanced over at Gohan, wondering if the half-breed had enough energy to use his instant transmission technique to get them home. If not, he could always fly or ask Goku. If he had had only himself to worry about, he wouldn't even have considered asking for the other Saiyan's help, but he wasn't going to endanger his daughters for the sake of his pride.

"Thank you for your help, Dad," Gohan said, exhaustion threading his voice. "Vegeta, let's get you home. Dad, you said Goten is over at Capsule Corp, right?" At Goku's nod, he nodded back and snaked his tail out to wind around Vegeta's arm. "I'll home in on his ki. I can fly home from there – it isn't too far."

He brought his hand up to his head and they all vanished, leaving Goku and his wife alone in the room again.

…

Vegeta silently slipped out of Goten's room, leaving the half-breed still deeply asleep and snoring away, and slowly made his way to Bra's room. He gently settled his older daughter into her bed and tucked her in. She was a mess, her hair and clothing matted with grime and blood, none of the latter being her own, fortunately. She desperately needed a bath, but her need for sleep was even greater.

He took a deep breath and tugged at the cloth sling, the sleeping bundle that was his younger daughter shifting until she was in front of him. With one last look at his blue-haired offspring, he resolutely headed toward the room he had once shared with Bulma, ready to face his punishment.

Perhaps he stumbled, or maybe something in the air alarmed the infant, but it suddenly woke up and began to cry. Vegeta froze as the blue-haired termagant he had known for the past twenty years suddenly sat bolt upright in her bed.

"Who… who is it?" she called, clutching the bedcovers close to her chest. She mentally cursed that she had chosen to wear only some flimsy lingerie because of the heat of the night. If she were going to face an intruder, she wished she were wearing something more intimidating. Like maybe a combat suit.

"It's me," he answered, his voice rough with exhaustion and pain. He staggered to the side of the bed and fell heavily to his knees.

Bulma's mind froze in shock at the voice. "Vegeta?" she choked out. "Vegeta, is that you?" She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or hallucinating. She could hear a thin wail that sounded strangely like a baby, but it didn't really register. "You're… are you real?"

"If not, then you need to dream me feeling a hell of a lot better," he managed to retort while fumbling with the buckles and straps holding the infant in the cloth sling. He finally freed her and held her out in Bulma's general direction before the woman could react.

Bulma took the bundle from his hands automatically, holding it at arms length before she realized what it was. A baby? What was her husband doing carrying a baby with him? Why, in the midst of escaping imprisonment, would he have brought a baby with him? Unless it had been held in captivity as well. But why had Vegeta brought it? Why hadn't Gohan taken it? Was he...

"Vegeta?" she whispered, her voice sounding frightened. "Are the others... did Bra and Gohan make it out as well? Or are they... did they..." She didn't know how to say the words out loud, just prayed that they were still alive.

"They are both alive," Vegeta said, pillowing his head in his arms as he allowed himself to lean against the bed. He hurt so badly, both in body and in spirit. He just wanted things to end, but he was oddly grateful that she had yet to realize what the baby was. He wanted to hear her voice for just a bit longer before he died. "Bra is completely exhausted and is in bed right now. She will need a bath in the morning, and a big meal."

Bulma stared at him for several minutes, not sure what to say or do. Part of her wanted to leap on him and hold him tight, never to let him go again. But there was something strangely distant about him, as though he didn't want her near him. She had known him far too long to not be able to recognize certain signs from him, even if they confused her now. It almost seemed as though he didn't want to be around her. But… that couldn't be right, could it? Was it possible he hadn't really wanted to return? None of it made any sense.

As though to find something to distract herself, her gaze moved back to the infant in her arms, and her eyes widened. She hadn't really looked at it before, but now, seeing the spiky hair, there was no mistaking that it was a Saiyan child.

"Vegeta," she said quietly, an odd catch in her voice, "whose baby is this?"

He was silent for several moments, the only sound in the room his harsh breathing. "…Mine…" he finally whispered.

Bulma had known the answer, but she couldn't help the hollow feeling that settled in her heart at the word. There had to be a logical explanation for it. He had been gone a year, and the infant didn't appear to be more than a few days old, so whatever had happened, it must have happened only a few months after he had been captured. She didn't think he would have betrayed her willingly, at least not so soon.

"What happened, Vegeta?" she asked quietly. "Who is the mother?"

"What happened?" he repeated, a hint of bitterness creeping into the dull tone of his voice. "I betrayed you. I cheated on you with another woman. And now I put my life and the life of this child in your hands. You are a good woman, so I know you will let her live. All I ask of you is that you tell some good things of me when she is old enough to understand."

Bulma frowned, her brow furrowing. She knew there was something wrong in what he was saying to her. Why would he assume he wouldn't be around? Putting his life and the life of this child in her hands? What was he talking about?

"Vegeta," she snapped almost peevishly. "What are you babbling about? I'm not going to throw you out or anything!"

She placed the baby gently on the bed, then turned to Vegeta and placed both of her hands on his shoulders. She felt him tense under her touch and vaguely wondered why, but forbore from hugging him more closely. There was something wrong, and she sensed he wasn't going to allow her to get close to him until it was resolved.

"I know you didn't betray me. I don't believe you would have cheated on me willingly. Whatever happened while you were a prisoner doesn't count. If you had to do things in order to survive, I'm not going to hold it against you."

"I cheated on you," he quietly insisted. "When a male Saiyan cheats on a female, his life is hers. You are well within your rights to kill me any way that you see fit. You also have the right to kill the child, or to take it from its mother and raise it as your own."

Bulma stared at him. There was a tone in his voice that she had only ever heard once before, a note that showed he was just giving up. It terrified her- the Vegeta she knew never gave up, not even faced with insurmountable odds. It was one of the things that had attracted her to him in the first place; his determination to improve himself, to defeat anything that came at him.

He was giving up, and it angered her. He was giving up on _her_, assuming she was just going to throw him out, that she would refuse to forgive him. She dismissed the part about a female Saiyan having the right to take his life. That was his culture, not hers. The most she would ever do to him was throw him out, and she wasn't going to do that.

"First of all, Vegeta, I'm not Saiyan, I'm human," she said firmly, her voice quiet. "What women did in your culture doesn't apply to me. Second, what you did when you were a prisoner is _not_ your fault. I don't know exactly what happened up there, but I do know this – the Vegeta _I_ know wouldn't have betrayed me willingly. That tells me you must have been forced into it, maybe in order to survive. I am _not_ going to blame you for wanting to survive. I would rather have you betray me and live than never come back to me again! I don't want you to die, Vegeta. I want you to stay with me, and never leave me again!"

Vegeta cocked his head, gazing at her steadily with his remaining eye. "No. No, you are not a female Saiyan," he said, his voice soft and slow. He struggled to his feet and turned away from her, limping toward the bathroom. "The child is sleeping for now, but she will likely be hungry when she awakens. She will need to be fed."

Bulma frowned and glanced down at the infant. She didn't really want to deal with it right now. She was willing to accept Vegeta back, but the baby was another matter. It was a reminder – to both her and her husband – of a painful time in their lives. She didn't really know what had happened, and she was certain she didn't want to know the details.

With a look of distaste, she carried the baby into the old nursery next to their room. She dropped it into the crib, then turned away, ignoring the loud wail it gave as it was jarred into wakefulness. She summoned one of the feeding robots she had used occasionally with Trunks and Bra when she had been busy in the lab. She would let the robots feed and change the child. Maybe she could ignore its presence, or have put it up for adoption. She would just as soon pretend it didn't even exist.

She returned to her bedroom, and heard the door to the shower slide open. With a sly smile, she slipped out of her clothing, then walked quietly into the bathroom. She heard the shower turn on and smirked at Vegeta's look of surprise when she opened the shower door and joined him.

He raised a brow at her, standing still under the spray as it washed away the dried blood covering him and cleansed his fresh wounds. He had taken off the leather patch, exposing the shredded, sewed up eyelid that covered the empty socket. He gazed at her intently, as if trying to memorize what she looked like.

He kept his distance from her, waiting for her to make the next move. She had made it clear that she didn't want to lose him, but that didn't change the fact that he had betrayed her. It didn't change the fact that he had hurt her. What happened next in their relationship would be completely up to her.

Bulma tried to repress the shudder that went down her at the sight of his face, but couldn't completely. She raised one hand and ran it over his cheek, tracing the path of the scars. They seemed like old scars; it must have happened early in their captivity. She didn't ask what had happened; obviously, it had to have been fairly traumatic, and she wasn't going to make him relive it. She might ask Gohan later, but she would never ask Vegeta.

"We can use a wish to heal it," she suggested quietly. She remembered the Vegeta from the future had worn a patch over the same eye, and had wondered why he hadn't used a wish to restore it. Maybe she would use one, if he would not. "It must surely hinder your fighting, being blind on one side."

"I was completely blind until a few days ago," he said softly. "I learned how to fight like that. This is an improvement."

This time, Bulma couldn't suppress her gasp. "Blind? But…." She hesitated, then plunged on. She had sworn to herself not to ask him about anything, but….

"Why were you blind? And why are you not anymore? Will you tell me that much about what happened? Please…."

"Do you remember the bright light that was flashed in my face when the aliens showed up? That damaged my eyes so badly that I lost my sight. The Keepers had the ability to restore it, but refused to. They felt that blindness would make me more tractable. After… after the loss of my left eye, Gohan negotiated with the Keepers to fix the damage the light had done. Even after that, they didn't do anything until the day the child was born. They wanted me to be able to see her."

"Is that… is that why you couldn't escape earlier? Because you couldn't see?" She threw her arms around him, oblivious to his wince of pain as her body and arms pressed against his fresh wounds. "I'm so sorry we couldn't rescue you, or use a wish to bring you back." She wept onto his shoulder, her voice muffled against his skin. "But we… we couldn't. I tried – I wanted to! I missed you so much!"

He held her close and burrowed his face into her hair, breathing in her scent. "I would not have been willing to leave even if you had been able to come for us," he said softly. He knew what he was about to say would hurt her even more, but it had to be said. "I had to wait for the child to be born. She is not that abomination's daughter; she is _mine_! And I refuse to allow a child of mine to have a childhood as abusive and soul destroying as my own."

Bulma pulled back from him abruptly, staring him in the face. "But I… I…." Words failed her. That _thing_ was what had kept Vegeta away from her this past year? Was _that_ the reason his future self had told them not to rescue the three of them? Because of that… creature?

She rejected the baby, instinctively and automatically. That baby was _responsible_ for her husband and daughter being imprisoned and apparently tortured for the past year. Anger welled up within her, resentment and hatred toward a child that she knew subconsciously was innocent and undeserving of the fury she was directing toward it.

Her attention suddenly latched onto something Vegeta had said. _Abomination?_ Bulma felt relief flow through her. Whatever had happened, it had definitely not been willing on Vegeta's part. A small part of her had wondered about it, but his words relieved that worry.

"Oh, Vegeta." She spoke in a soft, choked voice. "We missed you so badly. Trunks missed you as much as I did. It was so hard on us this past year, without you and Bra… not knowing what was happening to you…." Tears leaked down her face, getting lost in the steam of the shower. "Vegeta, promise me you will _never_ leave me again! Promise me!"

He gently stroked her hair. "I cannot promise you that. There is no telling what the future may bring. All I can promise is that I will never leave you voluntarily."

He sighed softly and pulled her back against him, pressing his face lightly into where her neck met her shoulder. He had missed her so much. The scent and feel of her skin, the sound of her voice.

Bulma pulled away and smiled at him, her lashes lowering coyly. "Why don't I scrub your back, Vegeta," she purred seductively. "Turn around and let me wash you off."

He handed her the washcloth he had been using and turned away from her, his tail waving lazily behind him. A voice in the back of his head, sounding somewhat like Nappa, scolded him for leaving his tail down and allowing it to telegraph his emotions, but he was too tired to care.

Bulma washed him gently, taking care for his numerous injuries. She winced at the number of new scars she saw on him. Many of them looked old, like he had gotten them early in his captivity, but she knew they hadn't been there before he had been taken. He'd already had several scars before that, but she had memorized all of those. These were newer, fresher, and made her want to weep again at what he had suffered this past year.

She let none of that show on her face, however, when she gently turned him around and began sponging his front. Her touch was more gentle than seductive, although once or twice she stopped and deliberately focused on an area that she knew was very sensitive.

When she was done, she pulled the showerhead down and rinsed the soap from him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

Vegeta returned the kiss, his tail twining around her waist, the tip lightly caressing her skin. The soft, wet fur rubbed gently against her as his hands explored her body. They were remarkably soft for a fighter, the gloves he often wore having protected them from scarring and calluses.

"Vegeta," Bulma whispered as she broke off the kiss, "why don't we take this to the bedroom?" To emphasize her intentions, she reached one hand down and caressed him lightly in a sensitive spot. "Please…. It's been so long since I've been with you…."

He nodded, a little breathless after that, and led her back to their room, not caring about the water they were dripping all over the floor. He gently pinned her to the bed, careful to hold back his strength enough that she would easily be able to get loose, and began trailing light kisses down her neck and chest.

Normally, Bulma was the one in charge and things were a bit rough, but this time, Vegeta seemed to want to be in control and to take it slowly. She wasn't really in the mood to be gentle, but she let him take his time. This was, she knew, necessary in some manner for his emotional healing. He had been hurt very badly as a prisoner, and not all of it had been physical. Whatever they had done to him, they had apparently forced him to have sex with someone he loathed, some female he referred to simply as an abomination. What they were doing - what _he_ was doing – was needed to help erase those memories from his soul.

She caressed him with her hands, every inch of his skin she could reach, and whenever a part of him got near her mouth, she kissed it, tasting him, showing him how much she loved him. Their joining took longer than it usually did, although it was just as earth shattering as it had ever been. Bulma could feel part of his soul within her again, and knew that his healing had finally begun.

…

The intruder was nearly silent as he slunk into the baby's room, but Videl had become a very light sleeper in the past year and nearly silent wasn't nearly silent enough. She crept to the closet and pulled out her heavy wooden bat before quietly making her way to the entrance of the room next to hers.

Rage flooded her being at the sight before her, her hands clenching around the bat. There was a man standing over her son's crib, leaning over as he reached down to scoop him up. She charged forward with an unearthly shriek and smashed the solid length of wood against the man's head, letting both ki and muscle power fuel her strike, just as Gohan had taught her.

To her surprise, the blow didn't even seem to faze the intruder at all. "Woman," came a harsh voice, "do you think you could hold off on trying to bludgeon me until after I've had a chance to see our son? Then you can do whatever you want to me, and I won't stop you."

"Gohan?" she whispered in confusion, backing up uncertainly. She recognized the voice, even through the harsh tone, but he didn't seem much like her gentle, loving husband.

Gohan sighed, then lifted one hand and formed a small ki ball so she could see him more clearly. "Videl," he replied quietly, then turned back towards the crib. His little son had opened his eyes and was looking up at him curiously, even if without recognition. Gohan reached down and picked up the toddler easily, studying him a few minutes before looking back at his wife.

"I've missed so much," he said roughly, and she could hear the despair in his tone. He took a step toward her. "I've missed _you_ so much."

She was quiet as she looked him over, her face expressionless. Then she pulled him close in a fierce hug, careful not to squish their son. "I've missed you too. Don't you ever get kidnapped again, you bastard! If you do, I'm going to hunt you down, kick their asses, and then kick yours."

She tried to sound tough, but it was ruined by the choked, tearful sound of her voice. He was different now, but she didn't care. He was still her Gohan, and she loved him.

"I don't plan on it," he said quietly. Once, there would have been laughter in his voice; that was gone now. He was happy, he supposed, to be back here with his wife and children; he certainly loved the three of them dearly. But true happiness seemed to elude him now. Hope, happiness, anything other than despair and anger had been suppressed during his past year in captivity.

He felt a fierce satisfaction that he and Vegeta had destroyed almost everyone on board, sparing only the Keeper who had sheltered Bra and protected her from the others. They had felt that they owed him for that, and spared his life in exchange. They had felt no similar mercy for any of the others. Their captors had treated them as less than sentient beings, and the two Saiyans had made them pay for that arrogance.

"I'm not going anywhere, Videl," he said quietly, the harshness slowly easing from his voice, which had begun to thicken with fatigue. "Would you mind if I took a bath before going to bed? I need…. It was a hard fight escaping tonight."

"Daddy?" a young voice whispered. Pan had been awakened by her mother's earlier shriek and had run for her little brother's room, intending to come to the rescue. Instead, she had been frozen in shock, unsure if what she was seeing was real, or just a dream.

Gohan gently settled Iki into Videl's arms, then walked over to Pan, crouching in front of her. "Hello, Pumpkin," he said quietly, gathering her in his arms as tears filled her eyes. "Honey, don't cry. I'm back now. I'm never going away again."

"You can't promise that, Daddy," the little girl said in a muffled voice. "You could die any day fighting enemies of this planet. But I'm glad you're back now, Daddy." She hugged him fiercely, and smiled up at him when he let her go and stood up again.

Gohan stared down at her silently for a minute, his face solemn. "You're right," he said seriously. "I could die any time fighting to defend our world. But believe me when I tell you that that would be the only way I would ever leave any of you again. No one is ever going to take me away from you again, and no one is ever going to take you away from me. I promise you that."

He glanced at Videl. "Can you draw up a hot bath for me, please?" he asked quietly. "And you might want to bring some bandages with you, too."

"Of course," Videl said, going into a no-nonsense, almost business-like mode. She was very worried about Gohan's injuries, both physical and psychological, but she didn't want Pan to know. She put Iki in the crib, then turned to her daughter. "Sweetie, can you stay in here and watch your brother for me while I take care of your father? He's had a very exhausting day."

Pan nodded, then levitated slightly and settled into the crib with Iki, putting her arms around him and curling around him. She was small for an eight-year-old, and the crib was large enough that the two of them fit together snugly, but comfortably.

While his wife left to ready the bath, Gohan entered their bedroom and began shedding his clothing. He winced as he pulled off his shirt, feeling it open a wound the cloth had adhered to. He hoped the hot water would help his injuries close more quickly and work with his natural Saiyan regeneration.

By the time he had stripped down to just his under shorts and had entered the bathing room, the bath was filled with steaming hot water. His wife was perched next it, holding a loofah.

He sank into the tub with a deep groan of pleasure at the feel of the hot water, tensed muscles finally beginning to relax. His exhalation turned into a soft sigh as Videl began to gently scrub him clean, humming softly as she worked. The tune was from a song her mother had sung to her when she was little, and that she in turn sung to her children.

Gohan found himself almost purring in contentment. Occasionally, her hands strayed a little too close to his injuries and caused a slight tweak of pain, but he ignored it and made no indication that it hurt. Over the past year, he had learned not to allow anyone to see when something caused pain or discomfort. It had become completely instinctive and was likely something he would continue to do for a long time.

It felt good, being touched by Videl again. He had dreamed of her touch many times while in captivity. It was one of the few things that had kept him sane through the torment his captors had inflicted on him. He had remembered her fire, her energy, her gentle touch when they made love. She was only gentle with him, he knew, and with their children; it was a part of herself she kept private to just those she was intimate with. Everyone else in the world only saw the face she allowed them to see. He saw her softer, more vulnerable side, and this was what he had clung to whenever he had felt that all hope was lost.

"Videl," he breathed, leaning backward and closing his eyes. "How I've missed you."

It was good to finally be home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: ****The Keeper Saga**

Chapter Nine 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

**Author's Notes:** Important author's notes will be located at the end of this chapter. Please read them once you have finished reading the chapter.

**Co-written by: **Mia Skywalker

…

…_Blood. He was coated in so much blood. They had both been in Oozaru form, and her blood had rained down on him when he turned back to normal. The blood had coated everything, even the two creatures killed during the battle. Two beautiful animals that would never fly again. Animals that were dead while the creature responsible still lived, though just barely. But the egg could be saved…._

…_A mental distress call sounded in his head, a cry for help. He would kill his tormentor later…._

…_He was in the main part of the ship, fighting through the aliens. One of the aliens had altered the main controller of the collars. Some of their power had been restored, but not all. They would have to destroy the controller in order to go home…._

… _Too many aliens, too many trying to come up on his blind side. A little girl's shriek of anger and fear. He turned in dread in time to see the danger behind him. Brightly colored streams of energy twisted and twined together, destroying the one who had almost killed him. And behind the dead man, there was yellow hair where once there had been blue, there and gone again before he could be sure of what he had seen…._

…_She was dead. Her killer stood before him, wearing her blood, though not as much of it as he did. Silently, her killer thrust his hand out, offering a heart, still dripping with blood…._

… "_For you, Ackay Ayanni…."_

Vegeta jerked awake, breathing heavily. He shuddered and slowly got up, his abused body protesting the movement. He ignored it and made his way to the closet, pulling on a pair of soft, slightly baggy black pants.

He had only been able to get three hours of sleep, but knew there was no point in even attempting to go back to bed. Not after dreaming about what had happened. He quietly headed for the door, stopping once to retrieve the capsule that he had had in his pocket the day he was kidnapped. Then he left the room, careful not to awaken Bulma. There were many things he had to do. Now was as good a time to begin as any.

…

Bulma woke to the soft breathing beside her, and smiled drowsily. She opened her eyes, wanting to see her husband sleeping soundly next to her, but to her surprise, her gaze encountered a bright blue shock of hair that matched her own. She sat up quickly and looked down at her daughter. What was Bra doing in her bed?

She noticed the girl's damp hair, and freshly scrubbed look, which reminded her that she had her own shower to take. Smiling down at the little girl, Bulma lightly kissed her brow before slipping out of bed, careful not to wake her up. Bra was obviously still exhausted and after what she had been through, Bulma wanted to let her have as much sleep as she needed.

Bulma's showers never took very long and that day was no exception. Normally, she would spend a bit of time on her makeup and hair, but other than a careful amount to enhance her features, she didn't spend much time on it. She was eager to find her husband and find out what he was doing.

She had no doubt that he had gone to the gravity room to begin his morning workout. Undoubtedly that's where he would have gone in such a hurry, since he always liked to wake up early to begin training. She would have liked to have spent a little time with him this morning, but she had to admit to herself that she did enjoy watching him go through his various athletic routines.

She heard the baby fussing in the room next to theirs as she passed by it, but she deliberately ignored it. The robots would take care of the child. She didn't want anything to do with it. It was a reminder of the tortures Vegeta had had to face this past year, and she wished fervently that it didn't exist. Had that baby not been born, she would have had her Vegeta back earlier. She hated it.

She paused in the dining room only long enough to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry, then headed towards her lab where she could view the monitors to watch Vegeta. To her surprise, she didn't have to turn the monitors on to see him; Vegeta was in her lab, sitting on the floor and very calmly sorting through her tools.

"It would be much easier for you to find things if you kept them organized. I would suggest an alphabetical system as well as one based on the various tool sizes," Vegeta said, not bothering to turn toward her or stop what he was doing.

His wounds had all been dressed, a length of white gauze wrapped snuggly around his left shoulder and upper arm. An assortment of screwdrivers, already sorted to Vegeta's satisfaction, had been set aside while he worked on the wrenches.

Bulma stared at him. Vegeta sorting through her wrenches was not what she had expected. She had always known he was a neat freak, but he'd never before shown any interest in her tools.

"Vegeta, I've always been able to find what I needed. They were sorted well enough for me to find things. I can't always re-sort them whenever I work on things, or I would be spending all of my time doing that and not actually working." She had a lab assistant who came in once a week and actually sorted through things the way Vegeta was doing, but he had been on vacation for the past two weeks. She didn't tell Vegeta that, however.

She shook her head, then sat down on the floor across from him. "Never mind that. Are you all right, Vegeta? I thought I would find you in your training room."

"Hn. There is no reason at the moment to push myself while I am injured. If I was preparing for something, such as when we had to deal with the androids, I would ignore any damage to myself, but a true warrior always knows that it is best to allow your body to heal when you have the option."

He continued to sort, acting as if everything was normal. As if he had not just returned from a yearlong captivity.

He finally looked at her, then inclined his head toward the portable incubator he had tucked into the corner of the room. "Would you turn the egg? The parents normally turned it once every few hours. I am unsure if it was to keep even heat, or to keep things from settling all in one place."

Bulma blinked, having been too focused on her husband to notice the incubator before this. She walked over to it and bent down, looking in through the glass on the door.

"An egg? What sort of thing is it?" Her parents sometimes brought eggs of various creatures in to hatch and raise, especially when the parents had any sort of accident and couldn't do it themselves. She had never really studied zoology, however, so had no idea how to recognize what sort of creature this would prove to be.

"It's a laquri egg. They were flying furred creatures that my people kept as pets and hunting companions." There was a slightly sad and wistful tone to his voice as he spoke. "The parents of that one befriended me, but were killed during my battle with Kiddae. I rescued the egg, and also brought back some frozen embryos the Keepers had."

He set down the last of the wrenches and lithely got to his feet, padding over beside her. "I do not think they were genetically engineered. There were several Saiyan laquri breeders who were willing to trade eggs and babies for technology. The animals were very popular with hunters."

Bulma nodded. A little bit of his destroyed homeworld. She could understand why Vegeta might have risked a bit to save this egg. She was one of the few who really understood him, and she knew how incredibly lonely he was. She hoped the creature wasn't dangerous, but even if it was, she wasn't going to take it away from him.

After carefully shifting the egg, she turned back toward Vegeta, studying him a moment before reaching one hand out to gently cup his scarred cheek, her thumb drifting gently across the old wounds. "I missed you," she said softly, smiling wistfully.

Vegeta didn't say anything in reply, didn't tell her with words that he had missed her as well. But he did let her know. He moved forward, pushing her gently against the wall, and kissed her deeply, his tongue flicking into her mouth and slowly exploring.

Bulma slid her arms around him, happy to have him home, and knowing now that he had missed her as much as she had missed him.

…

Gohan's arrival later that morning was both unexpected and unceremonious. He ignored the startled looks of the Capsule Corp workers when he landed in the compound around the Briefs' home and headed straight toward where he sensed Bulma's presence.

He was only slightly surprised to note that she was in her lab and that Vegeta was elsewhere, though not too far away. He had known Videl wouldn't want to let him out of her sight so soon, so had left before she had awakened. He had left her a note saying he would be back soon, but gave no more information than that. He hoped it wouldn't upset her too much. This was something he had to do.

He had expected Bulma to be as possessive of Vegeta's attention, but he realized he shouldn't have. His moody prince would need some time to himself, and despite what most of her friends thought, Bulma had always been sensitive to Vegeta's moods. She would give him space when he needed it, though if he swung too far toward depression or rage, she was very good at snapping him back to his version of normal.

Gohan managed to avoid direct contact with Vegeta as he went to see Bulma, though he had no doubt that the Saiyan prince knew he was there. Neither one of them had even attempted to contact the other since their return home, even though it had become almost instinctive during their time in space.

He found Bulma in her lab, the door lock recognizing his handprint and opening for him without raising the alarm. She didn't seem to have noticed his entrance, so he cleared his throat. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Gohan? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Videl?"

Gohan frowned, trying to think how to phrase it. The past year of constant telepathic contact had changed the way he tried to communicate with others. It was very difficult adjusting to the fact that he didn't have to pretend one thing when speaking while only telling the full truth of something when communicating telepathically.

"Bulma, I need to talk to you. About Vegeta." His expression was serious, almost grim. The blue-haired inventor's eyes widened in alarm, wondering what he could possibly be that serious about.

"What's wrong, Gohan? He told me a little bit about what happened, but I know it wasn't everything."

Gohan's face grew, if possible, even grimmer. "That's what I need to talk to you about. Vegeta will never tell you the truth about what happened, so I will. He feels that he deserves to be punished for betraying you, but I want you to know the truth."

He pulled up a chair next to her, and she turned away from her computer, giving him her full attention. He told her everything he could think of – how Vegeta had been raped and mutilated by Kiddae, how the Keepers refused to heal him, claiming his injuries were normal. How Vegeta had insisted that both he and Gohan stop fighting the Keepers, for the sake of Bra. He even told her of the one Keeper who had helped them protect the little girl. Finally, he told her of their escape, of Vegeta's fight with Kiddae, which had ended before her death. The only thing that had stopped him from claiming her life with his own hands had been a mental call for help from Bra.

"Once all but one of the Keepers was dead, my prince went back to finish the job. I used instant transmission to get there first. When he got to the habitat, I offered him her heart, as I had sworn that I would."

As he finished his tale, Bulma stared at him with tears in her eyes, stunned. She had known it would be bad, but she hadn't expected it to be quite that bad, for any of them.

"Thank you for telling me," Bulma finally whispered. "I knew he hadn't betrayed me, even though he seems to think he did."

Gohan didn't say anything in answer to that, just handed her some senzu beans. "My father got several of these from Korin this morning. I told him that I'd bring some here for Vegeta."

At that, he stood and left the lab, heading for home. Bulma quietly watched him go, wishing that she could bring back the happy, nearly carefree Gohan of old. She knew, though, that he would never quite be like that again.

…

Around noon, a creature that could have easily been mistaken for one of the undead lurched into the kitchen at Capsule Corp, its lavender hair sticking out at odd angles. It squinted its eyes against the bright light as it made its way to the coffee maker.

"Good 'morning', Trunks," Bulma said, her voice slightly tinged with humor, as she fixed lunch for herself and Bra.

Trunks gave a caveman-like grunt as he got a coffee cup from the cabinet. "Un. Hi, Mom. Hi, Bra." He poured himself some coffee and took a long drink, sighing slightly as the glorious caffeine began to hit his system.

He had just started on his second sip when something he had subconsciously noticed finally penetrated. He swallowed wrong. "_Bra?_" he gasped in shock, choking and sputtering on his coffee.

"Hi, Trunks," the little girl said, waving at him. She was well rested, but looked a little haunted and unsure of herself.

Before she could even finish her wave, Trunks was there, scooping her into the air and holding her close, giving a whoop of joy. "Oh, sweetie, I missed you."

"Missed you, too, Trunks," she murmured, nuzzling her big brother's shoulder.

Trunks held her tight, glancing over at their mother. "When?"

"Last night," Bulma replied, setting down two plates. "They were so tired that I decided to let them sleep instead of waking you up for a family reunion."

"Then Dad and Gohan are back too," he said, gently setting Bra down so she could eat. At his mother's nod, he raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He had to wake Goten up and give him the news. He'd be ecstatic that everyone was finally home.

"Goten, wake up!" he yelled, pounding on the door.

"Dun' wanna," came the muffled reply.

"Get your lazy ass out of bed! They're home! They're finally home."

There were several thumps and the sound of random cursing before Goten finally flung the door open, eyes and hair equally wild. "All of them? Gohan, Vegeta, and Bra?"

"Yes, and get some pants on, damn it," Trunks said, shielding his eyes from his best friend's nakedness. "I'm sure they'd love to see you, but not _that_ much of you."

With a sheepish grin, Goten dived back into his room and pulled on a pair of pants before joining Trunks once again in the hallway. They were racing for the stairs to head back down when a sound stopped them both dead in their tracks.

A baby was crying.

…

Bulma was programming one of the robots to clean the dishes when she noticed Trunks standing in the doorway, staring at her with an odd expression on his face. "Trunks?" she asked, looking curiously at him. "Is something wrong?"

"There's a baby in Bra's old nursery, right next to your room. Why are _robots_ looking after her?"

Bulma's face tightened as she turned away from him, unnecessarily fiddling with the programming controls on the dishwashing robot. "The baby is fine, Trunks. You don't need to worry about it."

"I looked at her, Mama. I saw the tail and the spiky black hair. She's a Saiyan. She's that girl who came from the future, the one whose face looked so much like a girl version of Dad's. She has to be. She's Dad's baby. She's my little sister," Trunks said with quiet intensity. "Why is she being left alone, with no one but robots to care for her? When Bra was a baby, you held her all the time. You told me that a baby was happiest and healthiest if it had plenty of human interaction. Why are you denying that to my new little sister?"

Bulma was silent for a long moment, her back still toward Trunks. "You don't understand. She's not… she's not…." Bulma choked on her grief, then stood up, tears welling up in her eyes. "Bra, go outside and play for a while, will you, sweetie? I need to talk to your brother alone for a few minutes."

The girl studied her briefly before answering. "Okay, Mama," she said softly, sliding out of her chair. She looked back over her shoulder before heading out the door. "She's my little sister too, Mama. I'm glad we waited for her to be born, even if it meant I had to kill to protect Daddy when we broke into the nursery."

Bulma's hands shook at that declaration. One more thing to hate the baby – and the Keepers- for. Her little girl should never have been forced to learn such violence. She dismissed the fact that Gohan had been even younger when his father had sacrificed his life to save the boy from his own uncle. She'd never been happy about that, either, but Gohan was male. It seemed so much worse for her little princess, her sweet little girl, to be tortured and taught how to kill.

Bulma waited until Bra had closed the door behind her, then sank down in one of the chairs and allowed her tears to fall. "Trunks, you need to understand. That baby, it isn't… it isn't mine, and it isn't Vegeta's. It's that… that thing's. That thing those creatures created. Do you know what your father called their created female Saiyan? 'The Abomination'. That little infant is the child of that _thing_. The creature who raped your father, who tore his eye out, who tortured him. She did all that, and you want me to accept her baby?"

"No," Trunks said softly. "I want you to accept _Dad's_ baby. She's innocent, Mama. She didn't make the Keepers kidnap our loved ones. She didn't make the female Saiyan rape Dad."

He moved closer to her, each point accented by a step in her direction until he had his hands resting gently on her shoulders. "Would Dad have brought her home if he considered her the child of his rapist? Half of the blood that runs through her veins is the same that runs through mine. It's Dad's blood. By denying her, you are denying something that is a part of him. I hate what happened to him – I wish there was a way I could make it so he was never taken at all – but I don't hate that baby. I love Dad too much to hate anything that carries his blood in its veins."

Trunks' words were like a slap in the face. Bulma stood up abruptly, glaring at him angrily. "You don't understand! I can't accept that baby because… because it's what kept him from me! He stayed there for that baby, and he was tortured because of it! If it hadn't been for that baby, Vegeta and Bra would have been home months ago! Gohan told me they only stayed to make sure they got the baby out too. I wish it had never been born!"

"Well, we can't always have whatever selfish thing we wish for, even with the dragon balls," Trunks said harshly. "If that were so, Dad would never even have come to this planet. I've heard about how you and the others tried to wish that he and Nappa wouldn't make it here. You thought he was a horrible thing that you didn't want here, and he turned out to be a good husband and a loving father. What could that baby be if given half a chance?"

"You will _never_ understand!" she cried out, turning on her heel and storming out of the kitchen. She ran upstairs to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She vaguely remembered that the last time she had shouted something like that, before fleeing to her room, had been when she was ten. She felt strangely like a small child who had been scolded for doing something wrong, like a spoiled brat who had been sent to her room and was having a temper tantrum.

"No! I am not in the wrong here!" she insisted, angrily dashing tears from her cheeks. "I didn't ask for that brat! I just wanted my husband and daughter back – I didn't ask for that baby as well! It isn't even mine!"

Apparently, the sound of the door slamming followed by Bulma's angry yelling had frightened the baby, causing it to cry. The robot nannies assigned to the child were trying to soothe it, but nothing seemed to help.

"Stop it!" Bulma shrieked, pressing her hands against her ears in a futile attempt to block the loud wailing. "Stop it, stop it, _stop it_!"

She tore out the room, intent on doing something, anything, to stop the irritating sound. One of the robot nannies held the baby in its metallic arms, unsuccessfully attempting to determine the cause of her distress. Bulma snatched her from the robot, holding her out at arm's length.

Strangely, the baby quieted in Bulma's hands, staring at her almost mistrustfully. It stuffed a hand in its mouth, its face beginning to screw up into another cry. With a strangely maternal surge of protectiveness, Bulma drew the girl toward her, holding her against her chest. The baby calmed instantly, though she continued to whimper slightly for a bit.

Bulma stared down into the tiny face, seeing for the first time her husband's features. For all that this baby was the result of Vegeta being forced to mate with another woman, it _was_ his. She could see it in the baby's nose, in its mouth, in its eyes.

Something wakened in Bulma then, something she had never expected. She wanted to hate this baby. It had taken her husband and daughter away from her for a year, and because of it her husband had been tortured mercilessly. But the baby itself was innocent, as Trunks had insisted, and Bulma found her anger evaporating as she held it in her arms.

She gently rocked the baby, unaware of a presence in the doorway. Vegeta had sensed the baby's distress, and Bulma's as well. When he had located their ki, he had been dismayed to realize they were together. Knowing that she disliked the child, he had raced to the nursery, ready to prevent his wife from hurting his youngest daughter.

Shame filled him as he watched them together. He had automatically assumed that Bulma would harm the child, yet here she was, cradling it close and comforting it.

"The aliens named her Kiddasa," he said softly, leaning against the doorframe. "I do not care for the name overmuch. It's too close to that abomination's name."

Strangely, Bulma wasn't startled by Vegeta's voice, even though it was unexpected. She turned to look at him, the anger she had felt earlier now completely gone. She nodded at him, then looked down at the child. It looked almost as much like Vegeta as Trunks had as a baby. Bra had always looked almost identical to her, but Trunks - and now this new baby - were definitely Vegeta's.

"We should name her Kini," she said quietly, then looked back up at the startled expression on his face. "It can be short for Zukini, but it will also be a Briefs name that way. Or... do you mind naming her that?"

"I don't mind. If she's going to be named after a parent, I would prefer it not be the thing that birthed her," Vegeta said quietly. "And I will not call that creature her mother. You are Kini's mother, not Kiddae."

Bulma felt her throat tighten and tears well up again. She looked down at the baby to try to hide her emotions from him. "Yes, I am. Well, we'd better let our friends know about our new baby, don't you think?" She smiled up at Vegeta through her tears. "They need to know there's a new Briefs now."

He nodded once and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. Then they left the room, ready to show off Kini, their new daughter.

…

Author's Note: This is the end of The Keeper Saga. Now, I know you're probably thinking "but… but what about such-and-such plot line, and that one thing or other that you left hanging?" so I'll repeat: this is the end of The Keeper Saga. It is _not_ however, the end of Dragon Ball VE. I've already started the second saga, The Shadowed Soul Saga, and plan to have at least two other sagas after it. 


End file.
